S&P 500 Hits New Highs

Author

Faro Capital
January 21, 2024

Good Afternoon,

U.S. stocks finished higher with the S&P 500 closing at record highs, closing at 4,839.81. The insurance sector is beating market headwinds with premiums increasing for customers. This was shown with Travelers Company’s stellar earnings, with the stock up more than 6%.

Canadian stocks closed relatively flat.

Brazil’s Ibovespa closed 0.2% higher on Friday and dropped 2.5% for the week. Headwinds in the local market include rising interest rates, payroll tax exemptions, tax reforms, and the country’s deficit. 

Argentina stocks are reaching new highs. The MSCI index (ARGT) that tracks Argentina stocks is up 27% year over year.

Markets:

Top News Stories

Canada

  • Mullen Group to buy ContainerWorld (BNN)

  • Teck Resources reported 2023 copper production was lower than expected (BNN)

  • Capital Power Corp. & Ontario Power Generation join forces to check feasibility of small modular nuclear reactors (BNN)

  • Mastermind cuts 272 jobs (BNN)

  • Samsung SDI to invest $18.5M into Canada Nickel, for an 8.7% equity stake (BNN)

  • Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp reported housing starts in December rose 18% vs November (BNN)

  • The Average Canadian rent jumped 18% in December to C$ 2,178 (BNN)

  • Home prices in Montreal have risen 30.6% since 2019 (MG)

  • Lynx Air to add Quebec City – Calgary route starting June 6 (MG)

  • B.C. Ferries choose Dutch company, Damen Shipyards Group, to build four new electric boats by 2027 (VS)

U.S.

  • Restaurant Brands to buy Carrols Restaurant Group for $1B (BNN)

  • Nelson Peltz on why he’s joining Disney’s board (CNBC)

  • Morgan Stanley’s new CEO gives positive outlook for the bank (CNBC)

  • JetBlue’s buyout of Spirit has failed (CNBC)

  • Pentagon chooses L3Harris, Lockheed, and Sierra Space for defense satellites contracts (CNBC)

  • Cash on the sidelines has investors bullish (WSJ)

Argentina

  • Argentina reverses trade deficit, hitting a surplus of $1B in December (BAT)

  • India signs lithium mining deal with Argentina (BAT)

  • Venezuelans now the 3rd largest immigrant population in Argentina (BAT)

  • YPF will not be privatized (BAT)

Brazil

  • Agriculture sector exported $166.6B worth of goods, setting new export record (RIO)

  • The CEO of B3 says focus will be on the debt market, not IPO in Brazil for 2024 (RIO)

  • Three Brazilian banks now top 500 valuable brands (RIO) 

  • GOL Airlines contemplates U.S. bankruptcy filing (RIO)

Chile

  • Exports hit $94.4B, market share in Asia increased (RIO)

  • Chile’s National Copper Commission forecasts higher copper prices in the future (RIO)

Colombia

  • Colombia’s top trading partners in 2023 (RIO)

  • Grupo Calleja increases stake in Exito to 86.51% (TV)

  • Claro to invest $4.4B in the following months to improve operations (PORT)

Ecuador

  • Ecuador looks to raise $1.02B for fight against crime (RIO)

Mexico

  • Green hydrogen projects have attracted $20B of investment (MB)

  • Grupo México could acquire copper mine in Spanish (MB)

  • EuroGroup Laminations to invest MX$924M to expand EV operations in Queretaro (MB)

  • Pomelo get $40M to expand operations in LATAM (MB)

Panama

  • Panama Canal faces revenue drop in 2024 (RIO)

Paraguay

  • Ueno Bank & Visión Banco merge to become a leader in digital banking in Paraguay (PORT)

Peru

  • PetroPerú is seeking $1.15B from the gov’t to address financial headwinds (RIO)

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