US Markets U.S. stocks futures are down overnight after a negative day on Tuesday, following the release of higher-than-anticipated inflation data. - The homebuilding sentiment figures will be released today, providing insights into demand for home purchases, current sales, and projected sales.
- Airbnb surged more than 10% overnight as the company's Q4 earnings beat investors' expectations.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.74260%
| Dow Jones | 34,089.27 | -0.46% | | S&P 500 | 4,136.13 | -0.03% | | Nasdaq | 11,960.15 | 0.57% | | Russell 2000 | 1,939.91 | -0.06% | *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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Market Insights The U.S. Consumer Price Index came in above expectations, with prices rising 0.5% month-over-month and 6.4% year-over-year in January, compared to estimates of a 0.4% monthly increase and a 6.2% annual jump. - Groceries saw the largest price increases year over year. The prices of eggs (+70.1%), butter (+32.5%), frozen vegetables (+18.6%), lettuce (+17.2%), cereals and baked goods (+15.6%), milk (+11%), and chicken (+10.5%) all surged over the past 12 months.
- Food at home prices jumped 11.3%, and food away from home gained 8.2%.
- Energy prices rose 8.7%; with fuel oil rising 27.7%, utility gas up 26.7%, and electricity up 11.9%.
- Other significant increases included public transportation (+17.1%), airfares (+25.6%), and house rent (+8.6%).
- The most significant declines were in the price of TV sets, used cars, computers, pork, beef, and appliances.
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Canadian Markets In a Valentine's Day poll, 75% of Canadians said they would consider breaking up or not starting a relationship with someone who had debt. - 15% said that "no amount of debt" was acceptable when finding a potential partner.
- 30% said they would reconsider a relationship if their partner had debt between $500 and $15,000.
- 27% of women also said that they would want a partner that had a job.
*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 closed up on Tuesday after a volatile day of trading. - The Stoxx 600 gained 0.1% on Tuesday. It fell early in the day before gaining 0.6% in the afternoon, after U.S. inflation numbers came in higher than expected.
- Telecom stocks were the best performing, gaining 1.7%.
- After gaining 9% since the start of 2023, the Stoxx 600 is now at a one-year high.
- The FTSE 100 hit an intraday high before falling slightly.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 4,238.76 | -0.06% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,953.85 | 0.08% | | Germany (DAX) | 15,380.56 | -0.11% | | France (CAC 40) | 7,213.81 | 0.07% | *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 fell on Wednesday morning as investors reacted negatively to U.S. inflation data. - A stronger U.S. Dollar has negatively impacted Asian markets. High inflation means the Federal Reserve is more likely to continue hiking interest rates, which would likely prop up the USD.
- China's central bank announced that its loan rates would remain at 2.75%.
- Consumer and healthcare stocks were the worst performing in Hong Kong as the Hang Seng fell.
| S&P Asia 50 | 4,820.77 | -1.81% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 27,482.02 | -0.44% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,435.61 | -1.22% | | China (Hang Seng) | 20,840.78 | -1.29% | | India (SENSEX) | 60,870.25 | -0.27% | *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 were down on Tuesday after the U.S. said it will continue releasing crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to put downward pressure on prices. - The Department of Energy said it plans to sell 26 million more barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is already at a 40-year low amid efforts by President Biden to keep prices artificially low as global supply tightens due to the war in Ukraine.
- Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude were both down 1.1% on Tuesday.
- OPEC has raised its forecast for oil demand in 2023 by 100,000 barrels per day due to China's reopening.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 30.20 | 0.67% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 172.61 | 0.08% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 20.12 | -0.40% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 26.71 | -0.22% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 76.33 | -0.56% | *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 Tuesday despite the higher-than-expected CPI figures, while currencies in Europe strengthened. - The British Pound, Euro, and Swiss Franc all rose against the USD, which has faced negative sentiment in recent months.
- The USD hit a six-week high against the Japanese Yen after the CPI data was released.
- Investors predict that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by a quarter point in both March and May before reassessing whether future rate hikes are necessary.
| UK(GBP) | £0.82 | -0.85% | | Europe (EURO) | €0.93 | -0.38% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.34 | 0.05% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥133.01 | 1.11% | *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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