Equities plunge to a 6-week low on disappointing corporate earnings.

⏳Equities plunge to a 6-week low on disappointing corporate earnings.⏳

North American equities sank today to the lowest levels seen in the last six weeks as companies continue reporting lower than expected first-quarter earnings. Persistent inflation coupled with slower economic growth is killing the markets’ sentiment. Today’s decline continued after the market closed as Alphabet Inc (-5.8%) and Microsoft Corp (-1.2%) provided disappointing earnings. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 3.95% to the lowest level in 11 months.

S&P 500 also shed 2.8% as General Electric Co. earnings disappointed and Tesla shares plunged after Elon Musk"s offer to buy Twitter was accepted by the board, for which Musk may have to sell more Tesla shares. General Motors beat the earnings but missed on the revenue for the first quarter.

The yield on 10-year treasuries declined seven basis points to 2.75%, and West Texas Intermediate rose 3.7% to 102.20 a barrel. In China, the recent concerns over extended lockdowns in Shanghai that could get to Beijing put some downward pressure on some commodities, including copper and iron ore, as China is the biggest global user of base metals. LME Aluminum and Iron ore have lost 11.47% and 8.42% in April.

In the FX market, the US dollar continues to be the best performing currency against all the pairs year to date, standing at 1.28 CAD. Much of the research believe USD is overvalued and is driven by the rate hike cycle of the US central bank.