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WASHINGTON — Friends, partners, allies — and rivals.

Investor hopes for a "Santa Claus rally" this December were dampened yet again Friday, as broad-based declines capped a week of losses on North American markets. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 157.35 points at 19,443.

NEW YORK — Stocks ended lower on Wall Street as worries grow that the Federal Reserve and other central banks are willing to bring on a recession if that’s what it takes to get inflation under control. The S&P 500 fell 1.

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says wholesale sales rose 2.1 per cent to $83.4 billion in October, boosted by gains in the miscellaneous goods, building material and supplies, and personal and household goods subsectors.

VICTORIA — At first, Cory Holland thought government anti-smoking measures were working when he noticed tobacco sales at his British Columbia convenience store started to drop.

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of Dec. 16 ... What we are watching in Canada ...

OTTAWA — Senators are warning Trade Minister Mary Ng that Ottawa may be falling behind its peers in establishing deeper trade ties with Africa. "We're not in some of the geographies we need to be," Ontario Sen.

TORONTO — Canada's main stock index was down nearly 400 points in a broad-based decline in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets also fell a day after the U.S.

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has lots of reasons to be losing sleep. Soaring living costs have Canadians lined up at food banks. The federal Liberals are anticipating a possible recession.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve reinforced its inflation fight Wednesday by raising its key interest rate for the seventh time this year and signaling more hikes to come.