Market View

The Canadian Prime Minister – Justin Trudeau, announced his resignation in the coming months after nine years in power, putting pressure on the Canadian stock market in the near term. On the other hand, the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in December, adding 256,000 new jobs compared to the expectation of 165,000, while the unemployment rate also fell to 4.1% from 4.2% in November. The Canadian dollar was 69.31 cents USD. The U.S. S&P500 ended the week down 0.8%, while the TSX was down 1.4%.

Most sectors ended the week in red. Real estate gave up 3.7%, while consumer staples and technology slid 3.2% each. Consumer discretionary edged lower by 2.4%, while financials and industrials edged lower by 2.0% and 1.7%, respectively. Energy ended the week up 3.4%, while materials gained 1.8%. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Royal Bank of Canada.

5 from 5i

Here are five reads we found interesting last week:

• Pot Kettle Black: Active Funds and the Index Concentration Argument, by Jeffrey Ptak of Morningstar
• Are We Bullish Enough?, published by Nick Maggiulli of Of Dollars and Data
• Updating My Favorite Performance Chart For 2024, written by Ben Carlson of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC
• Stocks Are More Expensive Than They Used to Be, published by Michael Batnick of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC
• Stock Market History, Illuminated, 2024 Style, published by Albert Bridge Capital

Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

Disclosure: The analyst(s) responsible for this report do not have a financial or other interest in securities mentioned.