This Week’s Highlights
In yet another week of Iran war headlines, market volatility and oil-price shocks dominated the investing news cycle. As investor sentiment shifts between optimism and caution, a key question is how and whether the Middle East war will factor into the Bank of Canada’s policy calculus. This deep dive explores how the scale and duration of the conflict will shape the central bank’s policy path.
As oil prices rise, Canadian consumers have started to feel pain at the pump. This week, Brent crude prices topped USD 100 per barrel twice and have stubbornly remained there. This dynamic sharply contrasts with a contraction unfolding in Canada’s labor market. Job numbers dropped significantly in February, posting back-to-back-monthly losses, compounded by an upswing in the unemployment rate. So, what is the Bank of Canada to do? Find out how analysts reacted to the latest jobs report.
That said, oil and defense stocks have been rallying. Is now the right time to sell oil and defense stocks and book profits? Find the answer in the latest episode of The Morning Filter, a Morningstar podcast.
Persistent market turmoil can also be a good time to look at regions outside of North America for opportunities. Morningstar editorial director Leslie Norton turns her gaze eastward to Japan in this piece, where she highlights reasons to be bullish on the country’s stocks. Across the pond, European stocks are also starting to garner some investor attention, with German enterprise software firm SAP SE SAP and ASML Holding ASML, the Dutch maker of machines needed to manufacture AI chips, in the spotlight. Looking for opportunities? Morningstar analyst Brian Paoli explains why this European fund may be a good starting point for investors seeking diversified exposure to the region.
Diversification is taking center stage as investors grow weary of heightened market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. So, the timing couldn’t have been better for Gabe Alpert’s piece on global equity funds that offer geographic diversification. Bonus: these funds also provide some cushion against markets with material exposure to volatile sectors like basic materials and energy, to which the Canadian market is overexposed.
The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about
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