US Markets Stocks were down on Wednesday following higher-than-expected inflation figures. - Amazon, Netflix, and Tesla shares all jumped on the day despite concerns about potential growth.
- Twitter stock was up over 8% after the company sued Elon Musk.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 2.93640%
| Dow Jones | 30,772.79 | -0.67% | | S&P 500 | 3,801.78 | -0.45% | | Nasdaq | 11,247.58 | -0.15% | | Russell 2000 | 1,726.04 | -0.12% | *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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Key Insight The Bureau of Labour Statistics on Wednesday said that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the U.S. surged 9.1% in June on an annualized basis. This is the higher rate of inflation since November 1981. - Economists had been expecting an 8.8% inflation rate.
- Prices are up 1.3% from May to June.
- The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was up 5.9%, also above expectations of 5.7%. Core inflation has, however, been falling since March 2022, when it peaked at 6.5%.
- Energy prices were up 7.5% from May to June and 41.6% compared to last year.
- Food prices were up 1% month over month.
- Housing prices were up 0.6% month over month and 5.6% compared to last year.
- Food prices have increased by at least 1% every month in 2022.
- Dental services increased by 1.9% month over month, their largest ever recorded monthly increase.
- Airline fares were one of the only areas to see a month-over-month decrease, falling 1.8%, but prices are still 34.1% higher than last year.
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Canadian Markets The Bank of Canada shockingly raised interest rates by 1 percentage point, causing a massive shift in Canadian markets, which had been anticipating a 0.75-point increase. - The Canadian Dollar rose 0.5% in the hour following the announcement while yields on the two-year bonds jumped 10 basis points.
- This is the largest hike since 1998 for the Bank of Canada and sets the overnight rate at 2.5%, ten times higher than the 0.25% rate at the start of 2022.
- Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the hike was in response to consumer and business leaders' expectations that high inflation will persist for longer.
*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 Stocks in Europe were down on Wednesday, continuing a negative trend for overseas markets. - The Stoxx 600 finished down 0.9%, with stocks falling late in the trading day when U.S. inflation data was released.
- Orion was the top performing company in the Stoxx 600, gaining 9% as the drug manufacturer raised its forecast for FY2022.
- Official data showed that the U.K. economy expanded by 0.5% in May. Economists had not been expecting any growth.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 3,453.97 | -0.95% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,156.37 | -0.74% | | Germany (DAX) | 12,756.32 | -1.16% | | France (CAC 40) | 6,000.24 | -0.73% | *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 Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, with countries continuing to react to local news impacting their economies. - Full trade data released on Wednesday showed that Chinese exports rose by 17.9% in U.S. Dollars in June, which was higher than the 12% increase expected.
- Tianqi Lithium fell over 11% on its market debut before recovering its losses to close at its offer price. Miniso also debuted in Hong Kong and was down on the day.
- The Hang Seng was up almost 3% before falling to finish down 0.22%.
- Markets in Korea were up 0.47% after the Bank of Korea announced a 50-basis point interest rate hike.
| S&P Asia 50 | 4,625.55 | 0.85% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 26,478.77 | 0.54% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,328.61 | 0.47% | | China (Hang Seng) | 20,797.95 | -0.22% | | India (SENSEX) | 53,514.15 | -0.69% | *Asian stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services.
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Currency Exchange Rates The U.S. Dollar fell slightly on Wednesday, retreating from its 20-year high. - The Euro was volatile, falling below parity numerous times and finishing the day at just under $1.
- The U.S. Dollar Index hit a 20-year high of 108.59 before falling to finish the day at 108.01.
- The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2011 on July 21.
| UK(GBP) | £0.84 | -0.13% | | Europe (EURO) | €0.99 | -0.27% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.30 | -0.39% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥137.43 | 0.51% | *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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Commodities Oil prices were up slightly on Wednesday as investors recovered some losses following Tuesday's mass sell-off. - Brent crude finished the day 0.1% higher while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.6% on the day.
- Brent is currently at $99.57 per barrel, a significant decrease from its high of $139 in March.
- U.S. Midland crude is trading at a premium of ~$1.50 per barrel over U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 31.17 | 0.81% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 161.60 | 0.48% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 17.69 | 1.43% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 24.07 | 1.73% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 73.62 | -0.92% | *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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 |  | 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 the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. 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. | |
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