U.S. Markets The stock market cratered on Friday, with U.S. equities suffering their worst single-day loss since the coronavirus crash in 2020. - The sell-off was largely the result of concerns around corporate earnings and the effect of rising interest rates.
- Caterpillar was down 6.6%, one of the worst among major U.S. companies, while Goldman Sachs, Home Depot, Visa, and UnitedHealth all suffered significant losses.
- Last week, the Dow was down 1.9%, the S&P 500 down 2.8%, and the Nasdaq down 3.8%.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 2.90370%
| Dow Jones | 33,811.40 | -2.82% | | S&P 500 | 4,271.78 | -2.77% | | Nasdaq | 12,839.29 | -2.55% | | Russell 2000 | 1,940.66 | -2.55% | *Stock Market data as of the last closing bell. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services. Do you not understand any of these figures? Check out our explainer.
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Canadian Markets Economists are concerned that a high-interest rate environment may deepen wealth inequality by rewarding those capable of saving while punishing those who need to borrow capital. - Scotiabank's Head of Capital Economics Derek Holt believes that there is a strong case for the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates by 1 percentage point in June, which would mean that rates would be eight times higher than in 2021.
- Yields for Bank of Canada bonds are already nearing 3%, with the five-year bond crossing 2.8% on Friday after first passing 2.7% on Tuesday.
- Data from Statistics Canada shows that the balance of home equity lines of credit increased by 1% to $162M in February, the fastest monthly increase since 2012.
- Currently, the average Canadian household owes $1.86 for every $1.00 in income. This is a record high and represents a significant increase from ~$0.90 in the 1990s.
*Canadian stock prices are as of the last close. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services
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European Markets European markets were down on Friday as investors continue to react to factors such as interest rate hikes, inflation, the war in Ukraine, and new economic data. - The Stoxx 600 was down 1.8% on the day, with mining stocks leading losses with a 3.6% drop, as all sectors were down on the day. Futures indicate that the negative sentiment was carried through the weekend.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the U.S. may hike interest rates by 50 basis points in May, which would strengthen the U.S. Dollar against the Euro.
- New data from the UK showed that retail sales volume was down in March, triggering concerns about the health of the British economy.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 3,840.01 | -2.24% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,521.68 | -1.39% | | Germany (DAX) | 14,142.09 | -2.48% | | France (CAC 40) | 6,581.42 | -1.99% | *European stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services.
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Asian Markets Shares in Asia were down on Friday and futures fell over the weekend as investors assess the impact of local policies and a stronger U.S. Dollar. - China's central bank claimed that its priority is not to rely on interest rate hikes to help offset the impact of lockdowns. Instead, the bank plans to increase support for the economy to curb inflation and ensure that food and energy prices don't rise.
- Chinese stocks have struggled since the start of the lockdowns, with significant portions of the economy affected and the government taking little action to offset the economic impact of the lockdowns.
- Tech stocks, in particular, continue to struggle, with Tencent and Alibaba both down on Friday.
| S&P Asia 50 | 4,932.13 | -0.76% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 27,105.26 | -1.63% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,704.71 | -0.86% | | China (Hang Seng) | 20,638.52 | -0.21% | | India (SENSEX) | 57,197.15 | -1.23% | *Asian stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services.
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Commodities Oil was down on Friday as a strengthening U.S. Dollar and lockdowns in China put downward pressure on demand. - Brent crude lost 1.6% and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 1.7% on Friday, with both finishing down ~5% on the week.
- Brent crude is at $106.65, down from $139 last month.
- Germany cut its 2022 economic growth forecast from 3.6% to 2.2%, indicating that it may demand less oil this year, and China's oil consumption is expected to decrease by 20% in April due to the lockdowns.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 32.80 | -2.41% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 180.29 | -0.97% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 22.31 | -2.11% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 28.94 | -1.56% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 91.22 | -1.72% | *Commodity prices are as of 7 am ET. Data from MarketWatch. To understand why investors track the prices of these commodities, click here.
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Currency Exchange Rates The U.S. Dollar hit a new two-year high on Friday as investors expect that the Federal Reserve will aggressively increase interest rates to combat inflation. - The U.S. Dollar Index is now up 5.7% on the year, and is at 101.13, after reaching 101.33 on Friday.
- Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday said the Fed is considering an increase of 50 basis points at the May 4 meeting.
- The Euro was volatile due to the uncertainty around the election in France on Sunday (which was won by President Macron), mixed messages from the European Central Bank around future interest rate increases, and the war in Ukraine.
| UK(GBP) | £0.78 | 0.12% | | Europe (EURO) | €0.93 | -0.05% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.27 | 0.11% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥128.65 | 0.14% | *Exchange rates as of 7 am ET. Data from Morningstar Financial Research. To understand why we track these currencies and the differences between them, click here.
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Cryptocurrency Bitcoin fell on Friday to close last week down and is now below $40K, after struggling to hold at around the $40K mark. - Binance has recovered $5.8M linked to the Axie Infinity hack, which is thought to have been orchestrated by North Korean hackers. This comes as Binance has been accused of sharing the details of Russian account users with law enforcement.
- Polygon has committed to investing $100M in Supernetes to help reduce the barriers for developers wanting to build on the blockchain.
- Ukraine's central bank has banned the purchase of cryptocurrency above $3,400 per month if purchased using the Ukrainian hryvnia.
| Bitcoin | $39,426.70 | -0.84% | | Ethereum | $2,905.66 | -2.10% | | Litecoin | $104.44 | -0.85% | | Bitcoin Cash | $307.39 | -4.26% | *Exchange rates as of 7 am ET. Data from Morningstar Financial Research. To understand why we track these currencies and the differences between them, click here.
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 |  | Liam Gill is a founder, lawyer and investor.
He previously founded Fumarii Technologies, which became a top 20 ranked cloud computing service (Yahoo Finance! 2019) valued at over $30M. He holds an LLB Laws (UK), MSc Management and Master of Laws and currently practices law at Zargar Lawyers + Business Strategists in Vancouver, Canada.
|   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
Go from ideas to code ridiculously fast with Crowdbotics. | |
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