Canada’s main stock index edged lower and US markets edged slightly higher in what was a quiet day of trading on Thursday. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 4.03 points at 19,969.19.
Canada’s main stock index edged lower and US markets edged slightly higher in what was a quiet day of trading on Thursday.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 4.03 points at 19,969.19.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 183.56 points to 33,781.48. The S&P 500 index was up 29.59 points at 3,963.51, while the Nasdaq composite was up 123.45 points at 11,082.
“It’s been a flat week,” said Ashish Utarid, assistant vice-president for investment strategy at IG Wealth Management, adding that he believes the lull is setting the tone for what should be a quiet rest of the year for -investors.
“We’ve had a lot of data come out in the last few weeks, and after the American Thanksgiving you tend to have lower activity for the rest of the year,” Utarid said.
“So I don’t expect there to be a ton of volatility to end the year.”
On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada announced it would raise its key interest rate to 4.25 per cent – the highest since January 2008. But the move did not have a significant impact on markets. , even though previous rate hikes have spooked investors. that central bankers can go too far and plunge the economy into recession.
The Bank of Canada has raised its key interest rate seven times in a row since March in an effort to reduce inflation and slow the economy, but Utarid said markets appear to have already absorbed the latest increase in -rates.
“All the bad news has been worked out in the economy by now,” Utarid said, adding that IG Wealth Management’s 2023 outlook calls for a more positive year ahead for both equity markets and those of fixed income, based on the assumption that interest rates have peaked and inflation will begin to gradually decline.
“We are hoping to see some optimism in 2023,” he said.
“Yes, it may be rough in the beginning, and the risk of recession is still there, but the stock markets are very optimistic looking at the next 12 to 18 months,” he said.
The Canadian dollar was traded at 73.63 US cents compared to 73.31 US cents on Wednesday.
Crude prices jumped briefly Thursday morning on news that TC Energy Corp. has shut down its Keystone Pipeline, which stretches 4,324 kilometers and helps move Canadian and U.S. crude oil to markets across the Americas. Above, due to an oil spill in Kansas.
However, TC Energy did not indicate how much oil has been spilled or how much the pipeline system is expected to be down, and crude markets settled relatively quickly.
The January crude contract fell 55 cents to US$71.46 per barrel and the January natural gas contract rose 24 cents to US$5.96 per mmBTU.
The capped energy index S&P/TSX closed down 0.64 percent.
On Thursday there was also an announcement by Canada’s financial regulator that it is raising the amount of capital that major banks need to hold over concerns about high levels of household debt and systemic vulnerabilities. another.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said the domestic stability buffer will rise by half a percentage point to three percent from February 1, 2023.
“I think it’s a really interesting story, but the financial markets didn’t move negatively with that news,” Utarid said, adding that the S&P/TSX capped financials index was relatively unchanged on on Thursday, and closed up just 0.21 percent.
“I think they were probably expecting it.”
The February gold contract was up $3.50 at $1,801.50 an ounce and the March copper contract was up two cents at $3.88 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 8, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)
Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press
