Today's key market insights

US markets

Stocks were down on Monday for a fourth consecutive trading session due to concerns about an end-of-year sell-off and a potential recession in 2023.

• The week before Christmas often sees the “Santa Claus Rally,” but investors are still awaiting positive signals after negative stock movements this month, including the first back-to-back negative weeks in three months.

• So far this month, the Nasdaq is down 8%, S&P 500 has lost 6.4%, and the Dow has dropped 5.3%.

• The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.58640%.

Canadian markets

Job vacancies in Canada were down in Q3 2022 after hitting a record high in Q2, according to new data released by Statistics Canada.

• There were 1.1 unemployed people in Q3 for each vacant job in the country, down from 2.3 unemployed people for each vacant job in Q1 2020.

• The job vacancy rate, which measures the number of vacant jobs proportional to the total amount of workers in the country, was 5.4%.

• There were 959,600 open jobs.

European markets

European stocks were up on Monday, breaking away from the negative sentiment surrounding U.S. equities.

• The Stoxx 600 gained 0.25%, with all major sectors finishing positive on Monday.

• Oil and gas stocks led gains with a 1.7% increase.

• Volkswagen was the worst-performing stock, losing 10.6% on the day, after it was announced that Oliver Blume would be CEO of both Volkswagen and Porsche.

Asian markets

Stocks in Asia were down on Monday after the publication of negative news stories in multiple countries.

• The Shanghai Composite fell nearly 2% after it was announced that most schools in Shanghai would be closed due to COVID-19 surges.

• The Bank of Japan will announce its monetary policy decision later today and is expected to keep its current interest rates.

• .According to the World Economic Sales Managers Survey, business confidence in China has fallen to an all-time low. (The survey began tracking sentiment in 2013).

Commodities

Oil prices rose on Monday amid expectations that China will further relax COVID-19 restrictions after Beijing reiterated its commitment to economic growth in 2023.

• The government said it expects three COVID-19 waves, including the current one, but that it will step in to provide support for the economy next year.

• Brent gained 1% and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.6% on Monday.

• The U.S. Energy Department on Friday said it will start restocking the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is putting upward pressure on prices.

Currency exchange rates

The U.S. Dollar was down on Monday as investors took more of a risk-on approach and backed higher-risk currencies.

• New Zealand and Australian Dollars, both of which are considered higher-risk, were up on the day.

• The Rand in South Africa gained 2% after President Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as head of the ruling party.

• The Japanese Yen lost ground against the U.S. Dollar ahead of the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision today.

Cryptocurrency

Binance US has agreed to purchase Voyager Digital’s assets for $1.022B.

• Binance.US will make a good faith deposit of $10M and reimburse Voyager $15M for expenses that occurred during the acquisition process.

• Voyager had previously agreed to sell its assets to FTX for $1.4B.

• The bankruptcy court in charge of the FTX collapse still needs to approve the purchase. A hearing is set for Jan. 5.

• Filecoin has lost 28% in the last five days after long positions in the token worth a total of $5.7M were liquidated last week.

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