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Oil prices surged on Friday and were on track for a third straight week of gains as traders focused on potential supply disruptions from more sanctions on Russia.

Brent crude futures gained $2.50, or 3.3 per cent, to $79.42 a barrel by 1248 GMT, reaching their highest in more than three months. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures advanced $2.39, or 3.2 per cent, to $76.31.

The United States will impose some of the harshest sanctions on the Russian oil industry to date, designating 180 vessels, dozens of traders, two major oil companies and some top Russian oil executives, a document seen by Reuters said.

The document, purported to be from the U.S. Treasury, was being circulated among traders in Europe and Asia. Reuters could not verify the veracity of the document.

Ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, expectations have been mounting that President Joe Biden’s administration will tighten sanctions against Russia and Iran, at a time when oil stockpiles remain low.

“That would be the farewell gift of the Biden administration,” said PVM analyst Tamas Varga. Existing and possible further sanctions, as well as market expectations of draws on fuel inventories because of cold weather, are driving prices higher, he added.

The U.S. weather bureau expects central and eastern parts of the country to experience below-average temperatures. Many regions in Europe have also been hit by extreme cold and are likely to continue to experience a chillier than usual start to the year.

“We anticipate a significant year-over-year increase in global oil demand of 1.6 million barrels a day in the first quarter of 2025, primarily boosted by … demand for heating oil, kerosene and LPG,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note on Friday.

The premium on the front-month Brent contract over the six-month contract reached its widest since August this week, potentially indicating supply tightness at a time of rising demand.

Inflation worries are also boosting crude oil prices, Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said. Investors are concerned about Trump’s planned tariffs, which could drive inflation higher. A popular trade to hedge against rising consumer prices is through buying oil futures.

Oil prices have rallied despite the U.S. dollar strengthening for six straight weeks, making crude oil more expensive outside the United States.

Canada’s economy added nearly quadruple the number of jobs forecasted for December and the unemployment rate surprisingly ticked down to 6.7 per cent, data showed on Friday, giving the central bank breathing room to determine the pace of further rate cuts.

The economy added a net 90,900 jobs last month, largely full-time work, according to Statistics Canada data. The job gains – third time in the past four months – were spread across several industries, the agency said.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a net gain of 25,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate would rise to 6.9 per cent from the near eight year high of 6.8 per cent in November. In December, the unemployment rate fell for core-aged men and for men aged 55 and older.

The robust jobs data show the economy ended the fourth quarter on a high note, easing the pressure on the Bank of Canada to continue rapid rate cuts to spur growth.

The central bank slashed its key policy rate by 50 basis points last month to help address soft economic growth, bringing the cumulative lowering of the borrowing rate to 175 bps since June.

The bank, however, did indicate further rate cuts would be more gradual. Its next rate announcement is on Jan. 29, when money markets see a roughly 70 per cent chance of a 25 bp cut.

The average hourly wage growth for permanent employees slowed to an annual rate of 3.7 per cent from 3.9 per cent in November, Statistics Canada said. The closely-watched wage growth rate was the slowest since April 2022.

In further sign of the job market firming up, Canada’s employment rate, or the proportion of the population who are employed, increased for the first since January 2023 percentage.

Employment in the goods sector increased by a net 22,500 jobs, mostly in manufacturing. The services sector gained a net 68,400 jobs, led by educational services and transportation and warehousing.

Canada’s economic growth prospects have in recent months been clouded by the threat of tariffs from incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. On Friday, the statistics agency noted that 8.8 per cent of Canadian workers, or around 1.8 million people, in 2024 were in industries that were dependent on U.S. demand for Canadian exports.

For Q3 2025, compared to Q3 2024¹:

• Net revenue increased 11.5% to $728.7 million, with comparable sales² growth of 6.6%
• United States net revenue increased 23.6% to $403.7 million, comprising 55.4% of net revenue
• Retail net revenue increased 10.3% to $486.6 million
• eCommerce net revenue increased 14.0% to $242.1 million, comprising 33.2% of net revenue
• Gross profit margin² increased 430 bps to 45.8% from 41.5%
• Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net revenue increased 90 bps to 29.6% from 28.7%
• Adjusted EBITDA² increased 48.7% to $136.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA² as a percentage of net revenue increased 470 bps to 18.7% from 14.0%
• Net income increased 71.9% to $74.1 million, or 10.2% as a percentage of net revenue. Net income per diluted share was $0.63 per share, compared to $0.38 per share
• Adjusted Net Income² increased 57.5% to $83.0 million. Adjusted Net Income per Diluted Share² was $0.71 per share, compared to $0.47 per share

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/aritzia-reports-third-quarter-fiscal-2025-financial-results-812041408.html

• Microsoft expects to spend $80 billion in fiscal 2025 on the construction of data centers that can handle artificial intelligence workloads, the company said in a Friday blog post. 
• Over half of Microsoft’s $80 billion in spending will take place in the U.S., Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith wrote.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/03/microsoft-expects-to-spend-80-billion-on-ai-data-centers-in-fy-2025.html

The Canadian dollar CADUSD -0.31%decrease weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday on the first trading day of 2025, but fared better than some other major currencies as oil prices rose and data showed Canada’s factory sector expanding for a fourth straight month.

The loonie was trading 0.2 per cent lower at 1.4410 to the U.S. dollar, or 69.40 U.S. cents, after moving in a range of 1.4370 to 1.4442. Last month, the currency touched a near five-year low at 1.4467.

“The USD is starting 2025 off as it appears likely to continue, at least for the next few months, as it stretches gains versus the majors,” Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank, said in a note.

The U.S. dollar index jumped to a two-year high as the greenback posted gains of 1 per cent or more against the euro and sterling on expectations that U.S. economic growth will beat peers.

The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, was up 2.2 per cent at $73.29 a barrel after a pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping to promote economic growth.

The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 52.2 in December from 52.0 in November, its highest level since February 2023 and the fourth straight month above the 50.0 no-change mark. It was helped by inventory accumulation by U.S. clients in anticipation of trade tariffs.

Still, the threat of U.S. tariffs and domestic political uncertainty has contributed to elevated levels of implied volatility in the Canadian dollar options market, Osborne said.

Implied volatility on an at-the-money options contract to buy or sell Canadian dollars against the U.S. dollar in three months was trading at roughly 7 per cent, its highest level since April 2023. Investors and companies use options to hedge their currency exposure.

Canadian bond yields were little changed across the curve, with the 10-year at 3.235 per cent.

Monday January 6

China, Japan, U.K. and Euro zone services and composite PMI

Germany CPI

(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P Global Services PMI for December.

(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P Global Services/Composite PMI for December.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. factory orders for November. The Street expects a month-over-month decline of 0.4 per cent.

—

Tuesday January 7

Euro zone CPI and jobless rate

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s merchandise trade balance for November.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. goods and services trade deficit for November.

(10 a.m. ET) Canada’s Ivey PMI for December.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. ISM Services PMI for December.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. global supply chain pressure index for December.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for December.

—

Wednesday January 8

China aggregate yuan financing and new yuan loans

Japan consumer confidence

Euro zone consumer and economic confidence

Germany factory orders and retail sales

(8:15 a.m. ET) U.S. ADP National Employment Report for December. The Street is projecting a monthly gain of 130,000 (versus a 146,000 increase in November).

(2 p.m. ET) U.S. Fed minutes for Dec. 17-18 meeting are released.

(3 p.m. ET) U.S. consumer credit for November.

—

Thursday January 9

U.S. stock markets closed (national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter)

U.S. bond markets close at 2 p.m. ET.

China CPI and PPI

Japan real cash earnings

ECB economic bulletin

Germany industrial production and trade surplus

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Jan. 4. Estimate is 225,000, up 14,000 from the previous week.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. wholesale inventories for November.

Earnings include: Artizia Inc.

—

Friday January 10

Japan household spending

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian employment for December. Estimate is a rise of 0.05 per cent, or 10,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate increasing 0.1 per cent to 6.9 per cent and average hourly wages up 3.8 per cent year-over-year.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian building permits for November. Estimate is a month-over-month increase of 1.0 per cent.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. nonfarm payrolls for December. The Street is forecasting 153,000 with the unemployment rate remaining 4.2 per cent and average hourly wages up 0.3 per cent.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for January.

Earnings include: Constellation Brands Inc.; Delta Airlines Inc.; Tilray Inc.; Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T +1.76%increase has slightly lowered its revenue expectations for 2024, blaming weaker performance in its media business during the final months of the year.

The telecom company now expects its service revenue will grow 7 per cent this year, down from initial guidance of 8 to 10 per cent, it said in a news release Friday morning.

The guidance reduction reflects a difficult year for the sector, with mounting competition, high debt levels and slowing growth putting pressure on company valuations. Shares of Rogers on the Toronto Stock Exchange finished 2024 down 29 per cent.

Rogers’s media business, which includes sports, television and radio programming, accounts for about 10 per cent of the company’s overall revenue, which was up 11 per cent in the third quarter. Higher revenues from subscribers and the Toronto Blue Jays were offset by costs related to renovations at the Rogers Centre stadium in Toronto.

The guidance drop likely represents a reduction of $50-million to $75-million in media revenue, translating to generally flat growth year-over-year, said Royal Bank of Canada analyst Drew McReynolds. Meanwhile, the company’s other business lines – wireless and cable – held steady.

“Bigger picture, we continue to believe improved wireless and cable pricing discipline by Rogers and all operators will be the key to delivering positive revenue growth in 2025,” Mr. McReynolds said in a Friday morning note to investors.

Rogers has invested in building up its digital television offerings as Canadians increasingly turn to streaming platforms for their content.

Last year, the company signed deals with Warner Bros. to license television content and with U.S. cable giant Comcast Corp. to run its television programming aggregator on Rogers devices. Comcast itself said in November that it planned to spin off most of its cable television networks into a separate publicly traded company, in what analysts saw as a reaction to the long-term pressures of cord-cutting.

Rogers also doubled down on sports content last year, entering a $4.7-billion agreement to buy BCE Inc.’s 37.5-per-cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and become the company’s majority shareholder.

In its last quarter, BCE BCE-T posted a $2.1-billion writedown of its television and radio properties, which it said reflected a further decline in advertising demand. Speaking to analysts, chief executive officer Mirko Bibic said the company was diligently managing declining segments and instead investing in growth markets, such as fibre internet in the U.S. Last February, Bell sold 45 radio stations and made television newscast cuts as part of a company-wide restructuring that slashed a total of 4,800 jobs.

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“You’ve got to align your cost structure in those segments that are declining to align the cost to the revenues,” Mr. Bibic said. “If some assets are going to perpetually decline, we might shed those lines of business.”

While retail internet is expected to remain a revenue driver for all telecom companies, Tim Casey, an analyst for the Bank of Montreal, expects that growth rate to decline. Internet revenues have grown about 7 per cent annually over past two decades, he said in a December note to investors, but he expects that to fall to 5 per cent in the coming years.

In October, RBC’s Mr. McReynolds told investors that television cord-cutting remains a meaningful drag on wireline revenue for the sector. He estimated that Rogers’s satellite television in particular – reported under the company’s cable division – likely constituted the majority of the company’s 2-per-cent cable revenue decline in its second quarter last year.

Canadian stocks tumbled on a severe bout of selling pressure on Wednesday, pushing the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index to a six-week low, as political uncertainty and fears of tariff war rendered the mood bearish.

Selling pressure gathered greater force past mid afternoon after the Federal Reserve signaled fewer interest rate cuts next year than earlier expected. The Fed, which cut interest rate by 25 basis points as widely expected, but the central bank’s latest projections suggest rates will be in a range of 3.75 to 4% by the end of 2025 compared to the range of 3.25 to 3.5% forecast in September.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index settled at 24,557.00, losing 562.71 points or 2.24%, one of the biggest single-session drop in several months.

Mirroring widespread selling, all the sectoral indices closed in negative territory today. The biggest loser was the Information Technology Capped Index, which went down by 4.46%.

The Materials Capped Index fell 3.46%, the Healthcare index lost 2.95% and the Real Estate index closed down 2.57%. The Consumer Discretionary, Financials, Energy and Utilities indices lost 1.84

Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) tanked 11%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) closed down 7.3%. Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), TerraVest Industries (TVK.TO), Dayforce (DAY.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) lost 4 to 6.2%.

Colliers International (CIGI.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) closed down 2 to 3.5%.

Organigram Holdings Inc. (OGI.TO) tumbled nearly 8%. The company reported a narrower net loss for the fourth quarter, helped by increased revenue and a decline in costs. For the three-month period to September 30, the firm recorded a net loss of C$5.433 million, compared with a loss of C$26.595 million, registered for the same period last year.

Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) climbed more than 7%. Sangoma Technologies (STC.TO), GFL Environmental (GFL.TO), Quebecore Inc (QBR.B.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.TO) and K-Bro Linen (KBL.TO) closed with sharp to moderate gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank deeper into the history books on Wednesday, with the index posting its 10th straight losing day as a disappointing rate outlook by the Federal Reserve rocked the stock market.

The Dow lost 1,123.03 points, or 2.58%, to 42,326.87, for its worst losing streak since an 11-day slide in 1974. The Wednesday decline was its worst since August and only the second time it lost 1,000 points this year in one session. The S&P 500 lost 2.95% to 5,872.16 and the Nasdaq Composite shed 3.56% to 19,392.69 with losses intensifying into the close of trading.

The central bank reduced its overnight borrowing rate by a quarter point to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, as expected. However, the Fed indicated Wednesday afternoon it would only cut rates twice in 2025, fewer than the four cuts given in its last forecast. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank’s move to cut rates in recent months allows it to “be more cautious as we consider more adjustments to our policy rate.”

Before Wednesday, traders were hoping the Fed would stay aggressive with rate cuts in 2025, fueling the bull market further. Treasury yields jumped following the Fed’s cautious outlook, pressuring share prices. The 10-year Treasury yield crossed above 4.50%.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/17/stock-market-today-live-updates.html