Markets rally as Fed raises rates
North American stocks surged for the second straight day as U.S. Fed Chair Jay Powell announced Wednesday a long-expected interest rate hike of 0.25%. Powell also signaled six more increases for 2022. Markets expected both announcements for quite some time. The U.S. 10-year yield hit 2.151%, back to pre-pandemic levels as the S&P rallied 2.24%, the Nasdaq 2.92% and the Dow 1.82%. There was green across the screen, though healthcare and energy showed weakness.
Major movers were travel names such as Las Vegas Sands up 11.88%, Carnival 7.43% and Booking Holdings by 5.69%; tech stocks including Micron up 8.36% and PayPal adding 6.91%; and Chinese tech stocks after Beijing announced it would ease off interfering with that sector (Baidu soared 39.2%). Laggards included Lockheed Martin down 6% and Northrup Grunman losing 5.43%. Bitcoin advanced 2.5% to nearly $40,000.
The TSX advanced 1.23% as WTI crude slid over 7% to $95.50 and WCS slipped 0.5% to $82. In Toronto, financials gained, but materials retreated. Bombardier soared 7.41% in heavy trading as did Air Canada which jumped nearly 7%. Goodfood rallied 12.14% and Shopify added 11.62%. Heading down were Nutrien at -4.28% and Endeavour Silver at -10.51%. Some of the street are calling for a bottom, but others are taking a cautious wait-and-see approach.
♠ Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS-N) +11.88%
🚢 Carnival Corp. (CCL-N) +7.43%
🧳 Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG-Q) +5.69%
💾 Micron Technology (MU-Q) +8.36%
💳 PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL-Q) +6.91%
🈲 Baidu.com (BIDU-Q) +39.2%
💣 Lockheed Martin (LMT-N) -6%
💣 Northrop Grumman (NOC-N) -5.43%
🅱 Bitcoin (BTCUSD) (CRYPTO:BTC) +2.5%
🚂 Bombardier Inc (B) (BBD.B-T) +7.41%
🛫 Air Canada (AC-T) +7%
🍱 Goodfood Market Corp. (FOOD-T) +12.14%
🛍 Shopify Inc. (SHOP-T) +11.62%
🌿 Nutrien Ltd. (NTR-T) -4.28%
🥈 Endeavour Silver Corp. (EDR-T) -10.51%
