U.S. Markets U.S. stock futures were flat overnight after retail sales data suggested that the U.S. economy may be picking up speed. - Roku surged 12% overnight after the company reported lower-than-expected losses.
- The Producer Price Index due out later today is expected to show a rise of 0.4% in January after a 0.5% drop in December.
- Haboro, Paramount, Dropbox, DoorDash, and Drafkings will all report earnings today.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.80680%
| Dow Jones | 34,128.05 | 0.11% | | S&P 500 | 4,147.60 | 0.28% | | Nasdaq | 12,070.59 | 0.92% | | Russell 2000 | 1,960.97 | 1.09% | *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 According to a survey by Statistics Canada, 25% of Canadians cannot afford an unexpected $500 expense. - Older people are better prepared to face unexpected financial needs, while younger respondents said they are more likely to struggle.
- 74% of Black Canadians and 65% of South Asian Canadians said they are currently concerned about housing costs.
- Non-racialized, non-indigenous people, are the least concerned about their finances, with only 38% saying they are worried about housing costs.
*Canadian stock prices are as of the last close. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services
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*data from New York Times
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European Markets European markets saw gains on Wednesday despite downward pressure early in the day. - The Stoxx 600 was down early in the morning but rebounded to end the day up 0.53%.
- Construction stocks led markets with a 1.8% gain, while banking stocks lost 0.6% after Barclays announced a 19% decline in net profit in 2022.
- The FTSE 100 in the U.K. hit a new intraday high, topping 8,000 for the first time, before falling to finish the day at 7,997.83.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 4,280.04 | 0.97% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,997.83 | 0.55% | | Germany (DAX) | 15,506.34 | 0.82% | | France (CAC 40) | 7,300.86 | 1.21% | *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 down on Wednesday following the release of U.S. Consumer Price Index data a day earlier. - Stocks rose in South Korea, Japan, and Australia on Thursday, but fell in China.
- Japan announced a trade deficit of $26B in January, up 59% from a year earlier.
- China is expected to report that housing prices have declined for six consecutive months.
- The Philippines central bank hiked interest rates by 50 basis points, to 6%.
| S&P Asia 50 | 4,815.20 | -1.92% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 27,501.86 | -0.37% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,427.90 | -1.53% | | China (Hang Seng) | 20,812.17 | -1.43% | | India (SENSEX) | 61,275.09 | 0.40% | *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 amid concerns about the strengthening U.S. Dollar. - Brent lost 0.2% and U.S. West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.6%.
- The U.S. Energy Information Administration said that the country's stockpiles rose by 16.3 million barrels, to 471.4 million, last week.
- Russian oil output is expected to fall by 1 million barrels per day this quarter due to Europe's ban on seaborne imports and the price cap by G7 countries.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 30.05 | 0.07% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 170.89 | -1.00% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 19.89 | -1.14% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 26.53 | -0.67% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 76.03 | -0.73% | *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 to a six-week high on Wednesday following the release of stronger-than-expected retail sales data. - Retail sales increased by 3% in January, the highest single-month jump in two years.
- The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.61% to 103.86, slightly below the six-week peak of 104.11 that it reached earlier in the session.
- Deutsche Bank expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to 5.6%.
| UK(GBP) | £0.83 | 0.97% | | Europe (EURO) | €0.94 | 0.36% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.34 | 0.45% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥133.89 | 1.17% | *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 rose after U.S. regulators rolled out a proposal that offers stronger protections for crypto investors. - The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a proposal to expand protections for assets, including cryptocurrencies, held by investment advisers on behalf of their clients.
- The SEC currently only requires assets like funds and securities to be registered and held with federal or state-chartered banks.
- Exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini would need to register as a custodian under this proposed regulation.
| Bitcoin | $24,789.30 | 13.53% | | Ethereum | $1,701.91 | 9.31% | | Litecoin | $103.34 | 7.93% | | Bitcoin Cash | $135.27 | 9.16% | *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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