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%.

Market	Price	Move
Dow Jones	32,757.54	-0.49%
S&P 500	3,817.66	-0.90%
Nasdaq	10,546.03	-1.49%
Russell 2000	1,738.58	-1.41%

 

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.

Market	Price	Move
TSX	19,200.76	–1.25%

 

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.

Market	Price	Move
Euro STOXX 50	3,811.24	0.19%
UK (FTSE 100)	7,361.31	0.40%
UK (FTSE 100)	13,942.87	0.36%
France (CAC 40)	6,473.29	0.32%

 

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).

Market	Price	Move
S&P Asia 50	4,436.44	-0.07%
Japan (Nikkei 225)	27,237.64	-1.05%
South Korea (KOSPI)	2,352.17	-0.33%
China (Hang Seng)	19,352.81	-0.50%
India (SENSEX)	61,806.19	0.76%

 

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.

Market	Price	Move
Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL)	28.76	2.13%
Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD)	166.32	-0.28%
Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV)	21.12	-1.17%
Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN)	25.85	-0.81%
Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD)	72.43	-0.90%

 

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.

Market	Price	Move
UK(GBP)	£0.82	-0.07%
Europe (EURO)	€0.94	-0.14%
Canada (Canadian Dollar)	$1.36	-0.75%
Japan (Yen)	¥136.86	0.11%

 

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.

Market	Price	Move
Bitcoin	$16,419.20	-2.16%
Ethereum	$1,166.64	-1.41%
Litecoin	63.00	-2.22%
Bitcoin Cash	$98.75	-4.14%

 

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