US Markets Stock futures are flat overnight after a positive day of trading on Wednesday. - New data shows that the U.S. job market is strong, which could give the Federal Reserve additional reason to boost interest rates to fight against inflation.
- T-Mobile shares rose after the telecommunications company said it had added 314,000 accounts in Q4.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.71060%
| Dow Jones | 33,269.77 | 0.40% | | S&P 500 | 3,852.97 | 0.75% | | Nasdaq | 10,458.76 | 0.69% | | Russell 2000 | 1,772.54 | 0.64% | *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 British Columbia has added a three-day cooling-off period for homebuyers. - The new rule will give homebuyers three days to back out of a deal after signing a purchase agreement.
- The extra time would allow buyers to consider their decision and arrange financing and property inspections, the government said.
- The plan was first unveiled in 2021 to give buyers additional rights during a hot market. However, the real estate market fell by 50% in 2022 and some experts said that the rule is no longer needed because it could disadvantage sellers.
*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 rose again on Wednesday after data from both France and Germany indicated that inflation has peaked. - The Stoxx 600 was up 1.4% on the day, led by the retail sector, which gained 3.3%.
- Oil and gas stocks dragged down markets as they fell by 3.1%.
- Ocado, a British online grocer, rose 7%, leading the Stoxx 600.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 3,973.97 | 2.36% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,585.19 | 0.41% | | Germany (DAX) | 14,490.78 | 2.18% | | France (CAC 40) | 6,776.43 | 2.30% | *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 up on Wednesday despite indications that the Fed could continue to aggressively hike interest rates in the U.S., which has negatively impacted Asian economies. - Stocks rose in China, with the Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite, and Shenzhen Component all up on the day.
- Markets in Australia, Japan, and South Korea also saw gains. In India, however, markets saw losses.
- Chinese ADRs were up on the day, with JD.com, Alibaba, NetEase, Baidu, and Trip.com all rising.
| S&P Asia 50 | 4,683.33 | 4.29% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 25,897.29 | 0.70% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,272.00 | 0.71% | | China (Hang Seng) | 21,079.40 | 1.38% | | India (SENSEX) | 60,657.45 | -1.04% | *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 dropped significantly on Wednesday, with Brent crude having the worst two days to start a trading year in over two decades. - Brent crude was down 5.2% on the day and has lost 9.4% over the first two days of trading.
- U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 5.3% on Wednesday.
- Oil prices are falling due to concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 wave in China will impact the global economy.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 27.88 | -5.07% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 172.67 | 0.94% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 21.89 | -0.73% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 26.11 | -1.95% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 73.93 | 1.27% | *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 was down slightly on Wednesday after there was little unexpected news following the release of the Federal Reserve's meeting notes. - Investors are pricing in a 67% likelihood of a 25-basis point interest rate hike in February.
- The U.S. Dollar Index lost 0.26% on Wednesday after hitting a two-week high a day earlier.
- The Australian Dollar gained 1.6% after China lifted restrictions on coal imports from Australia.
| UK(GBP) | £0.83 | 0.07% | | Europe (EURO) | €0.94 | 0.59% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.35 | -0.40% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥132.09 | 0.97% | *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 Bitcoin and Ether were up slightly on Wednesday after positive economic news in the U.S. signaled that a bull market could be coming. - Fanatics plans to sell its 60% stake in Candy Digital to Galaxy Digital.
- The SEC has filed an objection to a deal under which Binance.US would purchase the assets of the bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager.
- Data from Arcane Research shows that Binance controlled 92% of Bitcoin's Spot Trading Volume at the end of 2022.
| Bitcoin | $16,827.20 | 0.91% | | Ethereum | $1,252.70 | 3.17% | | Litecoin | $75.25 | -0.34% | | Bitcoin Cash | $102.75 | 3.58% | *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. | |
