Market View

The US Fed announced the first interest rate hike since December 2018. The Federal Reserve signaled six more rate hikes this year, pointing to an estimated funds rate of 1.9% by the end of 2022. The policymaking committee also projected three more rate increases in 2023 and raised inflation expectations for 2022-2024. The TSX hit a record close this week the first time since November 2021. US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict this week. The US dollar maintained its strength pushing down gold prices, while oil prices gained this week on the back of supply concerns. The Canadian dollar was 79.16 cents USD. U.S. S&P500 ended the week up 5.20%, while the TSX also ended the week up 1.6%.

It has been a while week for several TSX sectors. The technology sector gained nearly 10.5% this week, while healthcare added 7.7%. Consumer discretionary edged up by 3.7%, and financials gained 1.8%. Energy slid by 1.7%. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Enbridge, Toronto-Dominion Bank, and Manulife Financial Corporation.

5 from 5i

Here are five reads we found interesting last week:

• Inflation isn’t going back to normal this year, by Jordan Weissmann of Slate
• Michael Mauboussin (The head of Consilient Research at Morgan Stanley) is unshaken, authored by Eric Uhlfelder of RIA Intel
• Crypto may be too big to fail. Biden’s executive order recognizes that, written by Benjamin Powers of Grid
• Predicting the next recession, posted on Calculated Risk
• Inheriting Bitcoin is harder than it sounds, by Rebecca Heilweil of Recode

Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

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