Today’s key market insights

US markets

Stock futures were down slightly overnight after a negative day for U.S. equities on Wednesday.

• After announcing a half a percentage point interest rate hike, the Federal Reserve said it would continue to increase interest rates throughout 2023 and forecasted that the terminal rate will go above 5.1%, higher than expected.

• U.S. interest rates are currently at a 15-year high of 4.5%.

• The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.50270%.

Canadian markets

The Canada Food Price Report forecasts that the cost of groceries will increase by 7% next year.

• The report estimates that a family of four will need to spend CA$16,288 on groceries in 2023, an increase of CA$1,065 from this year.

• A single woman in her 40s is expected to spend CA$3,740 on groceries, while a single man would spend CA$4,168.

• Vegetables are expected to rise by 8%, seafood by 6%, fruit by 5%, and milk by 11%. 20% of Canadians will likely continue relying on food banks, the report says.

European markets

European markets saw losses on Monday despite positive movements in Asia hours earlier.

• The Stoxx 600 was down 0.4% on the day, with almost all sectors ending in the red.

• Food and beverage stocks fell 1.5% on the day, leading losses, while basic resource stocks gained 0.6%.

• SBB, a Scandinavian real estate company, was up 13%, leading gains, while Rational, a German appliance manufacturer, dragged down markets with an 8% drop.

Asian markets

Shares in Asia were down on Tuesday morning after rising on Monday.

• China briefly paused trading on Tuesday to commemorate former President Jiang Zemin, who died last week.

• China is expected to ease its “Zero Covid” strategy following protests and despite high case numbers.

• Hon Hai Precision Industry, an Apple supplier, was down after reporting that its revenue fell by 11% in November and 29% since the start of October.

Commodities

Oil prices were down on Monday amid concerns about how future rate hikes could impact the U.S. economy.

• Brent crude lost 3%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 3.3%.

• Economic and manufacturing activity in China remains suppressed due to COVID-19 regulations and high case numbers, which has caused a decline in demand for oil.

• OPEC+ confirmed that it plans to cut output by 2 million barrels a day through the end of 2023.

Currency exchange rates

The U.S. Dollar rose on Monday, following reports that the U.S. services industry saw increased activity in November.

• The non-manufacturing PMI reached 56.5 in November, up from 54.4 in October.

• The U.S. Dollar was down 1.4% last week and 5% in November — its worst month since 2010.

• The dollar was up against all major currencies on Monday, including the Yuan, Yen, Euro, and Pound.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin and Ether were down slightly during Monday trading hours with declining trading volume.

• Ethereum has turned inflationary again after activity on the network fell.

• CRO gained more than 10% after Crypto.com announced that it was launching a series of NFTs with Coca-Cola for the World Cup.

• Nexo said it plans to stop offering products and services in the U.S.

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