ClearWater Market Commentary as of April 5th, 2021

Here is the ClearWater Market Commentary as of March April 5th, 2021:

In this issue:
– Performance of Major Indices
– Market Commentary
– Last Week’s Key Economic  
  Events and Upcoming Events

Performance of Principle Indexes: 

S&P/TSX Composite Index
5 Day	1,30%
1 Month	4.77%
YTD	8.90%
1 Year	44.99%

^{As of 2021/04/01 – Source: www.marketwatch.com}

Index Performances	Last 5 Days	YTD
Russell 2000	4.41%	14.13%
Nasdaq	3.22%	4.59%
DAX	2.01%	3.84%
Hang Seng Index	1.77%	4.30%
CAC 40	1.48%	4.20%
Shanghai Composite	1.43%	0.33%
S&P/TSX Composite	1.30%	8.90%
S&P 500	0.87%	5.33%
WTI Crude (oil)	0.40%	26.20%
Dow Jones Industrial	-0.03%	6.61%
FTSE 100	-0.13%	3.90%
Nikkei 225	-0.36%	-1.59%

^{As of 2021/04/01}

Last week’s and next week’s key economic events:
 

US economy (S&P 500 5.33%):

• The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to record highs after US President Joe Biden unveiled a $2.25 trillion infrastructure investment plan, and the US vaccine rollout continued to surpass targets.
• Optimism received another shot in the arm when Pfizer said its vaccine proved to be 100% effective in 12 to15-year-olds. 
• The mood of stock investors improved despite another increase in global government bond yields, which have been weighing on equity valuations in recent weeks. Large capitalization and growth-oriented stocks outperformed small caps and value stocks, partially reversing the trend that has dominated markets since late 2020.
• As the S&P 500 rallied past 4,000 for the first time, gains were led by the communication services and consumer discretionary sectors, where more confident investors piled back into sector heavyweights Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc., and Amazon.com Inc. and Tesla Inc., respectively. 

Canadian markets (S&P/TSX 1.30%):

• The Canadian GDP in January was revised higher by Statistics Canada, and the early estimate of February GDP points to further gains: only a few months ago, expectations had been for a decline due to renewed anti-COVID-19 restrictions.
• The gains in the TSX were led by the technology sector, which climbed as investor enthusiasm returned to e-commerce giant Shopify Inc.  The sector heavyweight had retreated almost 30% from its February peak.
• Oil prices initially dropped after the freeing of the ship that had been blocking the Suez Canal — a development that will ease global supply disruptions. However, the price of crude jumped when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries laid out a plan to unwind previous production cuts at a surprisingly slow pace. The World Trade Organization (WTO) increased its projection of global GDP this year.

Performance 2021: S&P 500/400/600 Sectors

European and Asian economies:

• European shares rose to near record highs in a shortened trading week on optimism about a speedy economic recovery.
• Expectations for U.S. infrastructure spending helped alleviated concerns of a longer-than-anticipated lockdown on the Continent. 
• However, surging coronavirus cases in Europe amid vaccine rollout challenges and widened lockdown measures in some countries continues to worry markets.
• Japanese equities began the week positively as investors continued to look for bargains following the sharp market decline early last week. Sentiment was also upbeat ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan announcement on Wednesday. 

Chinese equities were strong ahead of a long weekend, with sentiment buoyed by the news of an additional tax reduction of RMB 550 billion to consolidate the economic recovery, strong March purchasing manager’s index data, and the better tone of U.S. and global markets.

What to watch this week:

Canada

• International merchandise trade (February)
• Employment report (March)

U.S.

• Markit, ISM Services Purchasing Managers’ Indices (March)
• Durable goods orders (February)
• Trade balance (February)
• Producer Price Index (March)
• Wholesale inventories (February)

• 

Sources: Bloomberg.com,Yardeni.com, Barron’s.com, Factset.com and Newyorkfed.org

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