US Markets Stocks rose on Friday to cap off a winning week. - The Nasdaq jumped 4.32% last week, the S&P 500 climbed 2.47%, and the Dow gained 1.81%.
- Stocks have risen since the start of the year, regaining some of their losses from 2022. The Nasdaq is up 11% year to date, the S&P 500 has gained 6%, and the Dow has climbed 2.5%.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.51180%
| Dow Jones | 33,978.08 | 0.08% | | S&P 500 | 4,070.56 | 0.25% | | Nasdaq | 11,621.71 | 0.95% | | Russell 2000 | 1,911.46 | 0.44% | *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 Two U.S. senators have sent a letter to Trade Representative Katherine Tai urging the federal government "get tough" with Canada for failing to honor its obligations under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. - Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) claim that Canada's plan to tax digital services from the U.S. is discriminatory and would lead to an advantage for Canadian content.
- They also claim that Canada is unfairly limiting access to its dairy market.
- Canada and Mexico have also had issues with how the U.S. interprets the trilateral trade agreement. A panel ruled against the U.S. regarding a dispute over the origin of automotive components earlier this month.
*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 on Friday after a strong week for stocks across the continent. - The Stoxx 600 gained 0.3% on Friday, led by the automotive industry, which rose 1.1%.
- Husqvarna was up 16% after Germany's Bosch announced that it plans to increase its stake in the Swedish power toll manufacturing company from around 5% to 12%.
- The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are both set to announce interest rate decisions later this week.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 4,178.01 | 0.10% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,765.15 | 0.05% | | Germany (DAX) | 15,150.03 | 0.11% | | France (CAC 40) | 7,097.21 | 0.02% | *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 Friday even though Tokyo's inflation rate hit a 42-year high and came in higher than the Bank of Japan or market analysts and economists had predicted. - Indian companies controlled by Adani Enterprises are falling after Hindenberg, the short seller that exposed fraud at Nikola, released a report denouncing tax and management irregularities at the conglomerate. Companies within the group fell between 5% and 16.8% on Friday.
- The Hang Seng tech index surged on Friday after tech stocks in China jumped, mirroring gains in other countries earlier this week, when Chinese markets were closed for the Lunar New Year.
- The 10-year bond in Japan surged more than 3% on Friday after official data showed that Tokyo's inflation rate hit 4.3% in January.
| S&P Asia 50 | 5,147.91 | 2.51% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 27,382.56 | 0.07% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,484.02 | 0.62% | | China (Hang Seng) | 22,688.90 | 0.54% | | India (SENSEX) | 59,330.90 | -1.45% | *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 Friday amid reports that Russia's oil shipments increased in January despite ongoing sanctions. - Brent crude was down 0.9% on Friday and 0.04% for the week.
- U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 1.6% on Friday and 2% on the week.
- According to a Reuters report, exports of Russian oil from Baltic ports are set to rise by 50% in January from a month earlier among strong demand from Asian countries.
- The current COVID-19 surge in China appears to be subsiding, with critical cases down 72% from the start of January and a 79% decrease in the number of deaths among hospitalized patients. These numbers suggest that oil demand could increase in China.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 30.21 | -1.94% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 179.22 | -0.14% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 21.68 | -1.41% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 26.54 | -0.15% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 78.10 | -0.27% | *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 flat on Friday despite data showing that consumer spending fell slightly in the U.S. - Consumer spending in the U.S. was down 0.2% in December; economists had predicted a 0.1% decline. The Commerce Department revised the figure for November, from a 0.1% increase in consumer spending to a 0.1% drop.
- The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of England are all set to announce monetary policy decisions this week.
| UK(GBP) | £0.81 | 0.00% | | Europe (EURO) | €0.92 | 0.00% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.33 | -0.21% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥129.88 | -0.01% | *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 continued to rise on Friday and over the weekend as investors moved assets into cryptocurrencies, with the Fed expected to be less aggressive in propping up the U.S. Dollar. - The DOJ claims that Sam Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, has messaged FTX employees to try and influence testimony against him.
- SBF has also requested permission to access and transfer FTX crypto funds.
- The government revealed that potential evidence against SBF has disappeared because the Slack and Signal systems used by FTX employees had the autodeletion feature turned on.
| Bitcoin | $23,827.00 | 3.23% | | Ethereum | $1,648.12 | 4.82% | | Litecoin | $96.70 | 7.80% | | Bitcoin Cash | $137.59 | 1.69% | *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. | |
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