Category: Market Watch

Written by: Sid Mohapatra The TSX closed at eight-month highs at 16,686 up 2.5% on a weekly basis with global equities posting the second week of gains on news of a breakthrough on the COVID-19 vaccine. Cyclical sectors that have been negatively impacted by the pandemic and are more sensitive to the reopening of the economy outperformed last week, while sectors that have benefited from the pandemic underperformed. Wall Street surged on Friday as Disney and Cisco’s upbeat results brought the focus back to corporate earnings at the end of a volatile trading week that saw record increases in coronavirus cases and heightened hopes of a working vaccine. The S&P 500 finishing at 3,585 up 2.2% for the week. The third-quarter earnings season is in its final stretch with about 90% of S&P 500 companies having reported so far. Overall profit is expected to fall 7.8% from last year, a … Continue reading MarketWatch Week of Nov 9, 2020

Written by Steven Klos  Summary  Markets endured a volatile week as COVID-19 fears continue to spread uncertainty about a global economic slowdown. U.S. equities finished higher this week fuelled by sharp rallies on Monday and Wednesday, however, Canadian equities ended lower amid central-bank policymakers slashing interest rates in an attempt to stabilize financial markets. The Dow Jones and S&P500 closed with gains of 1.32% and 0.61%, respectively, while the TSX suffered a loss of 0.94%. On the bright side, Canada’s employment report exceeded expectations adding 30,300 new jobs in February. Statistics Canada says that the majority of these jobs came from Quebec, which posted its third consecutive month of job gains.    Rate Cuts  The Federal Reserve was the first to cut rates this week, lowering the U.S. interest rate by 50 basis points to just below 1.25%. Soon after, the Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Australia, and others … Continue reading MarketWatch for the week of March 2nd

Written by Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven Klos  Summary  Canadian and US markets pushed through all-time-highs once again this week. The DJIA, S&P 500 & NASDAQ index gained  2.77%, 2.85% and 3.5%, respectively, while the TSX composite ended 1.9% higher. Canadian markets had their best weekly gain in 6 months alongside the US who had their best week in 5 months, despite the growing global concern of the coronavirus. Increased focus on the outbreak is slowing the macroeconomic projections and possibly signalling a recession. While the North American markets were able to overlook the impact of coronavirus, international markets saw quite a bit of volatility. The main Chinese index, the SSE composite, dropped as much as 9% on Monday as the coronavirus has forced the Chinese government to put millions of people on lockdown.    Tesla… to Mars?  Tesla common stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) saw extreme volatility last week with the … Continue reading MarketWatch week of February 3rd, 2020

Written by Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven Klos    Summary US and Canadian markets ended the week lower following updates on the coronavirus outbreak that spread fear about global economic disruptions. The S&P500, DJIA and NASDAQ indices closed down 0.85%, 1.11%, and 0.82%, respectively, while the TSX gained 0.09%. Before the outbreak, markets were consolidating recent gains as investors wait on a big earnings week ahead. The markets are also trying to digest the unusually high valuations we are seeing in large-cap stocks and the lower-yield environment we are seeing in fixed-income markets. The Bank of Canada held its first policy meeting last week, lowering their fourth-quarter forecasts due to weak consumer spending data. Analysts predict increased market volatility ahead as trade war disputes and spreading concerns of the coronavirus shock markets.   Spotlight: Everything you need to know about the Coronavirus Symptoms: According to Health Canada, the typical coronavirus … Continue reading Market Watch Week of January 20th

Written by Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven Klos  Summary   Major North American Indices closed the week off with record highs after President Donald Trump officially signed “phase one” of the trade deal. Terms of the deal included a commitment from China to increase spending on manufactured goods, energy, agricultural products, and services totalling $200 billion over the next two years. The signing of the deal removes some uncertainty in the market however future trade issues will likely drive market volatility. The DJIA, S&P500, Nasdaq, and TSX are up 20.26%, 26.46%, 33.74%, and 14.6%, respectively, over the past twelve months. US housing starts accompanied by solid retail numbers sparked confidence in the economy, with housing starts up 17% in December to hit a thirteen-year high. Record-low unemployment and strong job growth are equipping consumers to drive the economy and ease worries of a possible recession. Technology, Telecom, and healthcare sectors led the gains, strongly supported by Alphabet Inc. who joined the trillion-dollar club on Friday. Energy, … Continue reading MarketWatch

Written by Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven Klos  Summary   Major North American Indices closed the week off with record highs after President Donald Trump officially signed “phase one” of the trade deal. Terms of the deal included a commitment from China to increase spending on manufactured goods, energy, agricultural products, and services totalling $200 billion over the next two years. The signing of the deal removes some uncertainty in the market however future trade issues will likely drive market volatility. The DJIA, S&P500, Nasdaq, and TSX are up 20.26%, 26.46%, 33.74%, and 14.6%, respectively, over the past twelve months. US housing starts accompanied by solid retail numbers sparked confidence in the economy, with housing starts up 17% in December to hit a thirteen-year high. Record-low unemployment and strong job growth are equipping consumers to drive the economy and ease worries of a possible recession. Technology, Telecom, and healthcare sectors led the gains, strongly supported by Alphabet Inc. who joined the trillion-dollar club on Friday. Energy, … Continue reading Test

  Written By: Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven A. Klos North American indices ended the week positively with the TSX gaining 0.08%, the S&P 500 rising 0.85%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.32%. Both the S&P 500 and the TSX finished Q1 with their strongest quarterly performance in nearly a decade, gaining 13.07% and 12.6% respectively. Despite continued struggles with the new NAFTA deal, market growth over the quarter was driven by higher than expected earnings results, the Bank of Canada and U.S. Federal Reserve’s hold on interest rate hikes, and strong hope for a US-China trade deal in the coming weeks. Commodities performed quite well, WTI Crude oil closing at $60.14, surging 30% over the week amid OPEC’s production cuts.   The Canadian federal deficit is expected to total nearly $19 billion at the end of the fiscal year, higher than what we saw previously. There was … Continue reading Weekly Market Update (March 25-March 29)