After a strong showing last week, North American markets took a step back on Monday as fears over the Omicron variant and rising inflation took center stage.
Wall Street indexes ended lower on Monday, with travel and entertainment stocks tumbling as investors worried about the Omicron variant and its impact on the Fed’s latest plans. The TSX also fell, due to weakening oil prices.
In economic news, the Bank of Canada unveiled an agreement with Ottawa to keep its inflation target unchanged at 2%, adding that it would now factor labour market data into its decision-making process, which could keep interest rates low for longer periods of crisis.
U.S. indexes ended modestly lower on Tuesday after Labor Department data showed the producer price index for final demand in the 12 months through November shot up 9.6%, its largest gain since November 2010. That followed an 8.8% increase in October. In Canada, the TSX dropped 100 points, once again on declining crude prices.
U.S. stocks climbed Wednesday after Fed officials approved plans to increase the pace of the central bank’s tapering efforts. The move to respond to high inflation clears a path for interest-rate hikes beginning in the spring. By Wednesday’s close, the Dow jumped 383 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 76 and 328 points, respectively. In Canada, the TSX added 120 points. In economic news, U.S. retail sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in November, slightly off from October’s pace. In Canada, the country’s inflation rate remained at 4.7% in November, matching October’s number.
U.S. stocks fell Thursday as weakness in prominent tech names dragged down the three major indexes. The Nasdaq took the biggest hit, dropping 385 points, while the Dow and S&P 500 were off 30 and 41, respectively. In Canada, the TSX dropped 29 points.
North American Markets Lose Ground
For the four trading days covered in this report, the Dow lost 73 points to close at 35,898, the S&P 500 dropped 43 points to settle at 4,669, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 450 points to close at 15,180. In Canada, the TSX declined 150 points to end at 20,740.
source https://richarddri.ca/markets-mixed-as-investors-weigh-concerns-over-omicron-variant-inflation/
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