Stocks continue to rebound from the Russia-Ukraine war

🔥📈 Stocks continue to rebound from the Russia-Ukraine war 🔥📈

US and Canadian stocks continued their rebound this week from the fall caused by Russia attacking Ukraine. S&P 500 dropped more than 12% from the record highs in early January but now has recouped more than 8% of the decline in the past two weeks.

This week S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.79% and 1.98%, respectively. Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite advanced 0.86% this week. European markets are more impacted by the war in the region, leading Euro Stoxx 50 0.89% lower this week.

The apparent result of the war so far has been the higher commodity and energy prices, as seen in West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) prices ending the week at 112.8 per barrel. The US has stopped importing oil from Russia; while using its strategic reserves; the US is trying to find a replacement from countries like Venezuela or Saudi Arabia. Gold prices also remain elevated at 1954 per ounce.

On the yield side, US short-term bond rates continue to climb, which could be seen in the mortgage rates that hit 5% this week on a 5-year fixed loan.

Canadian dollar continues to appreciate against the US dollar on the back of higher oil prices and now stands at 1.247 USD. Cad touched this level back in January but depreciated after.

 

Cryptos also recovered from their latest drop, with bitcoin adding 6% this week.