Today's key market insights

US markets

Stocks rose on Friday with their first major rally of 2023.

• The rally came after a positive jobs report in December and signs that inflation is slowing.

• All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 were up on the day, led by materials stocks, which gained 3.4%.

• The worst-performing sector was healthcare, which rose 1%.

• So far this year, the only sector in negative territory is healthcare, which has lost 0.1%.

• The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.56260%.

Canadian markets

Canada’s job market saw gains for the fourth consecutive month in December, which may give the Bank of Canada more justification to continue raising interest rates.

• The Canadian economy added 104,000 jobs in December, significantly more than the 5,000 increase expected by economists.

• The unemployment rate fell to 5%, lower than the 5.2% expected by analysts.

• The labor force grew by 91,00 last month, and the labor participation rate is at 65%.

European markets

European markets were up on Friday following the publication of positive inflation data.

• In December, the annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was at 9.2%, down from 10.1% in November.

• The Stoxx 600 rose 1.1% on Friday and gained 3.4% on the week.

• Basic resource stocks led gains on Friday with an increase of 2.5%.

Asian markets

Stocks in Asia were mixed on Friday but most countries saw gains.

• Tesla said it will lower prices for some of its cars by between 6% and 13.5% in China, and the carmaker’s suppliers in the country rose as a result.

• Investors believe that Chinese companies will continue to take market share from their Taiwanese rivals in 2023 as geopolitical tensions increase.

• Samsung may need to cut production in 2023, which could negatively impact the South Korean economy.

Commodities

Oil prices were flat on Friday as the major benchmarks ended the week down.

• Brent lost 0.2% on Friday and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 0.1%.

• Brent and WTI both lost 8% last week after gaining 13% in the last three weeks of 2022.

• Saudi Arabia has lowered prices for the crude it sells to Asia – they are now at the lowest level since November 2021.

Currency exchange rates

The U.S. Dollar was down on Friday after the release of data showing that the U.S. job market is strong.

• Wages were up 0.3% in December after rising 0.4% in November. Wages rose 4.6% in 2022.

• The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the USD against six major fiat currencies, lost 1.17%.

• Investors estimate a 73% chance of a 25-basis point interest rate hike at the start of February.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin and Ethereum were stable on Friday and over the weekend.

• SuperRare, Ethereum’s digital work market, said it plans to reduce its workforce by 30% in a cost-cutting measure.

• Crypto exchange Huobi has announced that it will cut its payroll by 20% and will pay workers in stablecoins.

• After USDD fell by $0.03 on Friday the stablecoin is no longer pegged to the U.S. Dollar.

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