Canada’s main stock index closed at an all-time high on Monday as a jump in oil prices boosted energy shares, while the major Wall Street indexes closed mixed
The S&P/TSX composite index ended up 62.89 points, or 0.3%, at 23,348.97. It eclipsed the record closing high posted on Friday when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell endorsed the start of U.S. interest rate cuts.
The energy sector climbed 1.6% as the price of oil settled 3.5% higher at US$77.42 a barrel, with production cuts in Libya adding to supply concerns. The materials group was up 0.2%.
Just two of 10 major sectors posted declines, including technology, which fell 0.6% in sympathy with declines for U.S. tech stocks.
Financials rose 0.2%. Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal are due to report earnings on Tuesday, followed by Royal Bank of Canada and National Bank of Canada on Wednesday and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce on Thursday. Last Thursday, Toronto-Dominion Bank reported its first loss in over two decades after setting aside an extra US$2.6 billion to cover expected fines from U.S. regulators.
In U.S. markets, the S&P 500 finished lower, with AI heavyweight Nvidia dipping ahead of its quarterly report this week, while investors awaited inflation data for clues about the path of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq also declined, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average was supported by gains of about 1% each in Caterpillar and American Express and finished just slightly up.
Nvidia dropped 2.25% ahead of its report on Wednesday in what is set to be the U.S. stock market’s most closely watched event of the week.
Some investors worried that anything short of a stellar forecast from Nvidia could shatter Wall Street’s rally in AI-related companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms.
“Nvidia could disappoint. I think when you get to the point where the majority doesn’t even suspect that there could be a piece of bad news, that’s typically where you get it,” warned Jake Dollarhide, chief executive of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
U.S.-listed shares of PDD Holdings tumbled almost 29% after the Temu-owner missed market expectations for second-quarter revenue.
Tesla lost 3.2% after Canada, following the lead of the U.S. and European Union, said it would impose a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles.
The S&P 500 declined 0.32% to end the session at 5,616.84 points.
The Nasdaq declined 0.85% to 17,725.77 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.16% to 41,240.52 points.
Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, six declined, led lower by information technology, down 1.12%, followed by a 0.81% loss in consumer discretionary.
Boeing slipped 0.85% after NASA picked SpaceX over the planemaker’s Starliner to return its astronauts from space next year.
Wall Street rallied on Friday, with the S&P 500 nearing record highs after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said “the time has come” to lower borrowing costs in the light of a diminishing upside risk to inflation and moderating labor demand.
Money markets suggest traders see a 70% chance of a 25 basis point interest rate cut and a 30% chance of a 50 basis point cut in September, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Friday’s highly anticipated Personal Consumption Expenditure data for July, the central bank’s preferred inflation gauge, could provide more insight into the policy easing trajectory.
Results from Dell, Salesforce, Dollar General and Gap are on tap this week in the U.S.
Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.1-to-one ratio. Across the U.S. stock market, declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by a 1.2-to-one ratio. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 9.5 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 11.9 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
Reuters, Globe staff