US Markets Stock futures were flat overnight as investors continue to await election results. - Political uncertainty in the United States caused the markets to suffer significant losses.
- CPI data to be released today is expected to show that consumer prices rose 0.6% from September to October and 7.9% year over year.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 4.09040%
| Dow Jones | 32,513.94 | -1.95% | | S&P 500 | 3,748.57 | -2.08% | | Nasdaq | 10,353.17 | -2.48% | | Russell 2000 | 1,760.40 | -2.68% | *Stock Market data as of the last closing bell. Data received directly from the reference indexes through ICE Data Services. Do you not understand any of these figures? Check out our explainer.
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Canadian Markets Romspen Investment Corp, one of the largest mortgage funds in Canada, has halted payouts after some borrowers stopped making payments. - Romspen had $2.8B invested in over 134 mortgages as of the end of June.
- Rompsen's investments are distributed between the U.S. and Canada - 22% are in Ontario, 14% in British Columbia, and 13% in other parts of Canada, with the rest in the U.S.
- The fund tends to lend at a 65% loan-to-value, meaning that a 30% decline in the value of the assets would cause the fund to start losing money.
*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 Wednesday as investors continued to await midterm election results. - The Stoxx 600 fell 0.3% on the day. Travel stocks led losses with a 2% drop.
- Utilities were up 0.7% to lead markets, while healthcare stocks rose 0.6%.
- Commerzbank slumped 8.2% after the bank announced that its net profit fell by 52% last quarter.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 3,728.03 | -0.30% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,296.25 | -0.14% | | Germany (DAX) | 13,666.32 | -0.16% | | France (CAC 40) | 6,430.57 | -0.17% | *European stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the reference indexes through ICE Data Services.
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Asian Markets Stocks in Asia were mixed but continue to face downward pressure due to political uncertainty in the U.S. - The Hang Seng was down, led by losses in the tech sector, and stocks in mainland China also fell despite the Yuan weakening.
- A potential GOP victory in the House of Representatives is causing concerns in China because Republicans could seek to further restrict the ability of U.S. companies to work with Chinese technology firms.
- Nintendo shares were down after Switch sales fell.
| S&P Asia 50 | 3,846.72 | 0.32% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 27,377.27 | -1.22% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,421.94 | -0.10% | | China (Hang Seng) | 16,358.52 | -1.20% | | India (SENSEX) | 61,033.55 | -0.25% | *Asian stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the reference indexes through ICE Data Services.
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Commodities Oil prices fell on Wednesday due to reports that U.S. crude stockpiles rose higher than expected last week. - Brent crude lost 1.7%, while West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3%.
- COVID-19 cases are surging in numerous Chinese cities, which undermines the narrative that the world economy is rebounding from the pandemic.
- The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release official inventory data today that could confirm that stockpiles are increasing above expectations, which could put downward pressure on oil prices.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 31.34 | -3.30% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 158.65 | -0.50% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 19.36 | -1.73% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 26.57 | -1.01% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 71.94 | -1.84% | *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 rose on Wednesday against other major fiat currencies. - The British Pound was down significantly as investors were concerned about the fiscal plan that British finance minister Jeremy Hunt is set to announce next week.
- The Euro and the Yen both fell despite the political instability in the U.S.
- Clarity about election results and CPI data due out today will influence the U.S. Dollar's movement.
| UK(GBP) | £0.88 | 1.14% | | Europe (EURO) | €1.00 | -0.09% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.35 | 0.16% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥146.19 | -0.31% | *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 Crypto prices fell again on Wednesday as the markets continued to react to FTX's liquidity issues. - The price of Bitcoin is now at a two-year low after falling below $16,300.
- FTT lost another 50% after falling 80% earlier this week, and is now trading at under $3.00.
- The crypto market as a whole lost more than 8% on Wednesday.
| Bitcoin | $16,159.50 | -21.52% | | Ethereum | $1,142.16 | -14.14% | | Litecoin | $52.45 | -8.18% | | Bitcoin Cash | $92.44 | -21.57% | *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 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. | |
