US Markets Stocks were down on Friday as the end-of-year sell-off appears to have begun. - All three major indexes were down for the second consecutive week.
- The Nasdaq lost 2.7% last week, the S&P fell 2.1%, and the Dow shed 1.7%.
- Even though Friday's sell-off was not severe, it was very broad. At one point during the trading day, only ten stocks in the S&P 500 were not negative.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.48860%
| Dow Jones | 32,920.46 | -0.85% | | S&P 500 | 3,852.36 | -1.11% | | Nasdaq | 10,705.41 | -0.97% | | Russell 2000 | 1,763.42 | -0.63% | *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 There are four major dates in the 2023 tax year that all Canadian investors should be aware of as they prepare their strategies for next year. - January 1st, 2023 - The Tax-Free Savings Account contribution limit will be increased from $6,000 to $6,500, meaning that investors can add more funds to their Tax-Free Savings Accounts. For those who didn't use their full contribution room in 2022, the space is carried forward into future years, so you can add more in 2023 or save the additional room for future years. The sooner, the better, however, as the gains aren't taxed, so you benefit from compounding tax-free returns.
- March 1st, 2023 - This is the deadline for contributing to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) with funds that can be used as a tax deduction against your 2022 taxes. RRSPs are not tax-free but allow you to delay tax payments until you withdraw the funds. This means you could withdraw at times when you have to pay a lower marginal tax rate, such as when you are unemployed or retired.
- April 1st, 2023 - This is when the First Home Savings account will be launching. This campaign promise from the federal government will allow all people under 40 to contribute $8,000 a year, which will be tax-free (similar to an RRSP but also free from withdrawal tax) for a maximum of $40,000. The only condition is that the funds need to be used to purchase a home by the age of 40. Alternatively, holders can convert the funds into RRSP savings that will be taxed when withdrawn.
- April 30th, 2023 - This is the tax filing deadline. By this date all 2022 taxes must be filed; any late filings will be subject to interest payments.
*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, continuing the negative trend seen in previous days. - The Stoxx 600 lost 1.1%, with all sectors in the red, aside from banking, which gained 0.7%.
- The worst-performing industry was telecommunications, which dropped 2.4%.
- The Swiss National Bank, Bank of England, and European Central Bank all increased interest rates by 50 basis points last week.
- European markets had their worst day in six months on Friday following the monetary policy announcements.
- The European Central Bank plans to remove 15 billion Euros from its balance sheet in Q1 2023.
- The Stoxx 600 lost 2.1% last week.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 3,804.02 | -0.83% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,332.12 | -1.27% | | Germany (DAX) | 13,893.07 | -0.67% | | France (CAC 40) | 6,452.63 | -1.08% | *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 Asian markets were down on Friday due to increasing recession fears following negative economic indicators across the continent. - The U.S. government restricted the activity of several Chinese companies that have alleged links to the country's government and military.
- Following the announcement, Cambricon Technologies lost 10% and China Electronics Technology Group fell by 2%.
- The Bank of Japan plans to discuss removing controls over its 10-year bond yields in 2023. Currently, Japan's government and central bank take an active role in setting the Yen's value.
- Singapore's economy is expected to contract in Q1 2023 amid declining demand for the country's exports.
- UBS downgraded its forecast for China's 2022 economic growth, to 2.7%, from 3.1%. However, the firm now expects that China will expand by 4.9% in 2023, up from 4.5% previously.
| S&P Asia 50 | 4,439.69 | -0.59% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 27,527.12 | -1.87% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,360.02 | -0.04% | | China (Hang Seng) | 19,450.67 | 0.42% | | India (SENSEX) | 61,337.81 | -0.75% | *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 lost ground on Friday due to concerns about the health of the global economy. - Brent fell by 2.7% and U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude lost 2.4%.
- Both reference crudes lost 2% on Thursday but they ended the week up after rising earlier in the weak.
- The U.S. Energy Department plans to start buying oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in February. So far this year, the U.S. has not purchased crude oil, instead releasing 180 million barrels into the market to push down prices.
- The Keystone Pipeline remains closed following a leak last week.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 28.16 | -1.79% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 166.79 | 0.87% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 21.37 | 0.61% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 26.06 | 0.12% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 73.09 | -1.19% | *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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Currencies The U.S. Dollar rose on Friday, extending the gains from Thursday due to the hawkish tone of the Federal Reserve. - The Australian Dollar stabilized on Friday, falling 0.2% after losing 2.4% on Thursday, the largest single-day drop since the March 2020 Coronavirus crash.
- The US Dollar Index rose 0.2% on Friday and 0.9% on Thursday. The index is now up 9% so far this year.
- The Yen strengthened against the USD ahead of the Bank of Japan's meeting this week.
| UK(GBP) | £0.82 | 0.37% | | Europe (EURO) | €0.94 | 0.37% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.37 | 0.62% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥136.72 | -0.75% | *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 markets fell late last week and over the weekend following more negative legal news. - Karl Greenwood, one of the founders of OneCoin, pleaded guilty to setting up a pyramid scheme that generated nearly $4B.
- Bitcoin's price decline is also due to significant pressure from the Federal Reserve, which continues to back the U.S. Dollar, making Bitcoin less attractive.
- Data from Pitchbook shows that despite declining cryptocurrency prices, VCs still prioritize investment in Web3.
| Bitcoin | $16,703.00 | -3.73% | | Ethereum | $1,176.66 | 0.83% | | Litecoin | $63.66 | -3.92% | | Bitcoin Cash | $102.52 | -4.38% | *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. | |
