US stocks record the first quarterly loss since the pandemic bear market in

🔥 🤑 US stocks record the first quarterly loss since the pandemic bear market in 🤑🔥 

US equities managed to end in green on Friday but recorded the first quarterly loss since 2020, with S&P and tech-heavy Nasdaq indices down 4.6% and 9.69%. Along with other commodity-driven markets, the Canadian market has posted decent performance, with SP/TSX adding 3.44% year to date. European markets were most affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Euro Stoxx 50 lost 8.83% in the first quarter. 

US economy missed estimates and added 431,000 jobs in March while the jobless rate fell to 3.6%. The low unemployment rate will signal the US central banks that they can speed up the planned policy rate increase, which pushes up borrowing costs for Americans. US 10-year Treasury yield advanced four basis points and stood at 2.38%.

The hawkish tone of the US central bank and the ongoing geopolitical tensions has kept the US dollar elevated against other major currencies. The Canadian dollar has held its ground against other currencies, with the USDCAD rate standing at 1.25.

 

Oil prices are coming off their records highs but remain elevated, with most of the forecasts underlining near or above 100 oil prices going into 2023. WTI oil prices fell 6.4% to 100.90 a barrel on Friday.