Market Update

According to the International Energy Agency, lifting COVID-19 restrictions in China is expected to increase global oil demand to a record high this year.WTI crude oil futures edged higher on Friday, putting the market in a position to post a second straight weekly gain. The catalysts triggering this price action …

The market’s risk-on impulse favoured risk sensitive currencies including the NZD, CAD, NOK, SEK and of course the Australian Dollar. The US housing market continues to deteriorate, as shown by declining Existing Home Sales.Fed’s policymakers favour a deceleration of rate hikes, though the higher-for-longer stance remains unchanged. The AUD/USD pair …

US indexes surged on Friday after Netflix kicked off the earnings season for growth stocks with positive move, while Google parent Alphabet gained on news of job cuts.Shares of Netflix jumped 6.8% as the company added more subscribers than expected in the Q4 and said co-founder Reed Hastings was stepping …

The CAD/USD pair is trading at 1.3412 at the time of writing versus the previous closing at 1.3463, down by -0.40%. Next Wednesday, the BoC will hold its monetary policy meeting. Analysts expect a 25-basis points rate hike in line with market consensus. They point out the Canadian dollar may …

Ericsson AB reported Q4 earnings on Friday. The Swedish company reported net profit attributable to shareholders of 6.07 billion Swedish kronor ($588.2 million) compared with SEK10.08 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected net profit of SEK7.05 billion.Sales rose 21% to SEK86.0 billion versus the SEK84.78 billion expected …

The British pound fell on Friday after weak retail sales data reminded investors about the gloomy outlook for the British economy.Sterling was down 0.26% against the dollar at $1.236. That was below a $1.244 peak touched on Thursday, which was itself not far off the highest level since October 2022. …

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said it would lay off 12,000 employees, about 6% of the company’s global workforce. Amazon and Microsoft had previously announced layoffs of 18,000 and 10,000 employees, respectively. The company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, told employees in an email today that he takes “full responsibility for …

The UK Retail Sales arrived at -1.0% over the month in December vs. -0.5% previous. The Core Retail Sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, fell by 1.1% MoM vs. -0.3% previous. On an annualized basis, the UK Retail Sales plunged 5.8% in December versus -5.7% prior while the Core …

Netflix added millions more subscribers in the fourth quarter than Wall Street expected, helping to send shares of the streamer up after the bell despite a big earnings miss. The company also disclosed that co-CEO Reed Hastings would be stepping down from his position and transitioning to the post of …

Procter & Gamble reported year-over-year declines in revenue and profit on Thursday, as higher prices look to offset declining sales volumes and foreign exchange headwinds. Here’s how P&G performed in its fiscal second quarter of 2023 compared with what Wall Street anticipated, based on an average of analysts’ estimates compiled …