A roundup of the region’s stock market results on Thursday
🗽 On Wall Street:
The main U.S. stock market indices closed with losses Thursday, after Wednesday’s gains that followed the speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, in which he shed light on the next steps of the monetary policy.
Despite the optimism generated by Powell, the Russia-Ukraine war continues to weigh on investors and even more so after the French government warned Thursday that “the worst is yet to come” following a conversation between President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.53%, while the Dow Jones Industrials slipped 0.29% and the Nasdaq Composite (CCMPDL) fell 1.56%.
“Wall Street disappointed after the ISM services index posted a third consecutive decline, with business activity, new orders and employment posting sharp declines,” said Edward Moya, an analyst at Oanda.
Investors also weighed up war losses as they awaited the government’s employment report, which is expected to show the U.S. added 415,000 jobs in February.
🔑 The Day’s Key Data:
Oil prices fell during the day, despite the Brent benchmark surpassing $120 per barrel in early trading.
Crude retreated amid signs that talks to revive a nuclear deal with Iran could soon be concluded, which could increase supply as traders increasingly shun Russian oil.
“The selloff is pretty shallow because the market is self-sanctioning Russian crude and effectively taking three million barrels of crude out of the market,” Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Management, told Bloomberg.
With the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Bloomberg Commodity Index is nearing its biggest weekly gain since 1960, as fears grow that there will be a disruption in supplies.
🏅 The Leader:
Chile’s IPSA (IPSA) rebounded on Thursday and closed with the best performance in Latin America, up 1.88%, as shares in the commodities and energy sectors performed the best as raw materials prices continue to rise.
SQM (SQM), Copec (COPEC) and CAP (CAP) shares were among the best performers, with SQM up more than 10% at cloosing, having approved a $250 million capacity expansion in Chile.
Argentina’s Merval (MERVAL) had the second best day of the region, after the government announced an agreement with the staff of the International Monetary Fund. The Washington-based lender stated that, as part of the strategy, Argentina will seek to reduce energy subsidies and redirect spending towards more productive social and infrastructure investments.
Mexico’s S&P BMV/IPC (MEXBOL) also ended the session with gains, thanks to the performance of sectors such as materials and finance.
📉 A Bad Day:
Brazil’s Ibovespa (IBOV), the main index of the largest stock exchange by market capitalization in Latin America, was the only index to register losses in the region, after returning to trading with gains on Wednesday following the end of the Carnival holiday on Monday and Tuesday.
The index closed with a slight slip of 0.01%, adversely affected by the performance of the consumer, healthcare and communications sectors.
The Brazilian stock market had been showing gains on a par with those shown at the beginning of the session by the main U.S. indicators, but then reversed its trend to close with losses.
The shares of Azul (AZUL4)), Gol (GOLL4)) and Embraer (EMBR3) were among the worst performers. Airline stocks have been hit by the increase in oil prices, which has an impact on their operating costs, and flight cancellations due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
🍝 For the Dinner Table Debate:
As technology talent becomes prized by global companies, Latin Americans are emerging as a vital source of skilled labor.
Before the pandemic, talent was primarily located where the companies were. Now, companies go where the talent is. And that doesn’t mean they open a headquarters near a university campus, but simply hire the best talent they can find, wherever it resides.
A LinkedIn survey shows that there was a 273.59% increase in the migration of Brazilian professionals to the U.S. between May 2020 and April 2021, compared to the previous year. After the United States, Australia is in second place with 252.96% growth over the same period.
Of the top 10 job destinations for Brazilians, six are in Europe, two in North America, one in Asia Pacific and one in Latin America. LinkedIn’s survey considers a migration when a user changes the location on their social network profile, which can mean a physical move and/or a remote job.
