ClearWater Market Commentary as of February 15th, 2021

Here is the ClearWater Market Commentary as of February 15th, 2021:

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

Performance of Principle Indexes: 

^{As of 2021/02/12 – Source: www.marketwatch.com}

^{As of 2021/02/12}

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

US economy (S&P 500 4.12%):

• Global stocks pushed higher as investors continued to take comfort in the US stimulus plans, improving COVID-19 trends and positive corporate earnings news.
• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke in favor of Biden’s proposed economic aid package which trigged the week’s gains. She also predicted that the US could be back to full employment next year if the stimulus is robust enough.
• Jerome Powell, head of The Federal Reserve reiterated that the Federal Banks policy would remain stimulative for a long time

Canadian markets (S&P/TSX 1.79%):

• Gains in the TSX were led by the Technology sector, lead by the heavyweight Shopify INC.  
• The optimism last week lifted oil prices and other commodities, including copper which reached an 8 year high.
• Energy stocks were higher as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices climbed to their highest level in more than 2 years.
• The small, but volatile, healthcare sector also advanced

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

European and Asian economies:

• European markets were mixed but ended generally higher.
• Improving Coronavirus infection rates, the rollout of vaccination campaigns, and hopes of a large U.S. economic stimulus supported equity markets,
• Some countries did extend lockdown measures, such as Germany, however discussions for other markets such as the UK centered around re-opening in March.
• The European Central bank now predicts that the Eurozone economy will grow 3.8% this year and next year. 
• Asia-Pacific equity markets were mostly higher in the holiday-shortened week.
• Japan’s stock market recorded as second straight week of solid gains,
• Chinese markets rallied ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

What to watch this week:

Canada

• Manufacturing sales (December)
• Consumer Price Index (January)
• Retail sales (December)

U.S.

• Empire State Manufacturing Survey (February)
• Producer Price Index (January)
• Retail sales (January)
• Industrial production (January)
• Capacity utilization (January)
• Housing starts (January)
• Markit Purchasing Managers’ Indices (February)
• Existing home sales (January)

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

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