This week saw the Toronto S&P TSX Composite index decline by the most it has in a week since October as investors’ concerns about the vaccine rollout weighed on markets.
Markets south of the border saw increased volatility as a battle between Wall Street hedge funds and retail “do it yourself” investors raged. Several trouble stocks which had been shorted by hedge funds and others saw DIYers engage in a coordinated effort to drive these stock prices upward, leading to a “short squeeze”. The upward and downward swings have been extreme.
These attempts were abated to some extent on Thursday as some online brokerages temporarily halted buys to these companies but Friday saw a return to the wild upward swings for these stocks.
Silver, a precious metal which has been shorted recently, spiked upward on Friday as retail investors turned their attention to those short-sellers. Gold also took part to some extent, riding Silver’s rally to a modest Friday gain. However, both were down for the week.
Weekly Update – By The Numbers
| North America | Friday Close | Weekly Change | Weekly % Change | YTD % Change |
| Canada – S&P TSX Composite | 17,337 | -509 | -2.85% | -0.55% |
| USA – Dow Jones Industrial Average | 29,983 | -1,014 | -3.27% | -2.04% |
| USA – S&P 500 | 3,714 | -127 | -3.31% | -1.12% |
| USA – NASDAQ | 13,071 | -472 | -3.49% | 1.42% |
| Gold Futures (USD) | $1,845.90 | -$9.80 | -0.53% | -2.76% |
| Crude Oil Futures (USD) | $52.12 | -$0.15 | -0.29% | 7.42% |
| CAD/USD Exchange Rate | $0.7828 | -$0.0079 | -1.00% | -0.39% |
| Europe / Asia | Friday Close | Weekly Change | Weekly % Change | YTD % Change |
| MSCI World Index | 2,662 | -94 | -3.41% | -1.04% |
| Switzerland – Euro Stoxx 50 | 3,481 | -121 | -3.36% | -2.55% |
| England – FTSE 100 | 6,407 | -288 | -4.30% | -0.84% |
| France – CAC 40 | 5,399 | -161 | -2.90% | -2.74% |
| Germany – DAX Performance Index | 13,433 | -441 | -3.18% | -2.08% |
| Japan – Nikkei 225 | 27,663 | -968 | -3.38% | 0.80% |
| China – Shanghai Composite Index | 3,483 | -124 | -3.44% | 0.29% |
| CAD/EURO Exchange Rate | € 0.6446 | -€ 0.0049 | -0.75% | 0.20% |
| Fixed Income | Friday Close | Weekly Change | Weekly % Change | YTD % Change |
| 10-Year Bond Yield (in %) | 1.0930 | 0.0020 | 0.18% | 19.32% |
Sources: Yahoo! Finance, CNBC.com, Globe Investor