Wall Street ended mixed on Friday, with inflation concerns looming at the end of a volatile week of trading. The TSX closed with a very minor loss, falling just short of setting another record high.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 4.09 points, or 0.02%, to close at 19,538.86. Most sectors were a little lower, though financials and energy both rose, gaining 0.27% and 0.12%, respectively. Copper miners were among the biggest decliners, with Capstone Mining losing 5.11%, Copper Mountain Mining 4.99%, and HudBay Minerals 3.38%.
Oil prices jumped about 2% after three days of losses, driven higher as a storm formed in the Gulf of Mexico, but were on track for a weekly fall as investors braced for the return of Iranian crude supplies after officials said Iran and world powers made progress a nuclear deal.
The Dow was lifted by industrial heavyweights, including Boeing and Caterpillar Inc. Boeing jumped 3.1% as industry sources said the planemaker has drawn up preliminary plans to increase in 737 MAX output to as many as 42 jets a month in fall 2022.
Banks, including Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan, also supported the Dow.
The S&P 500 pared its earlier gains, down 0.08% to 4,155.86, marking the index’s drop for a second consecutive week. Information technology and consumer discretionary led the selloff while economy-linked financials and energy posted biggest sectoral gains.
Analysts expect the rotation trades to continue to play out with the vaccine rollouts and reopening of the economy.
“Once we get to the latter part of 2020, we expect to see a greater rotation out of technology and into more cyclical and defensive stocks as the recovery takes greater shape,” said Greg Bassuk, chief executive at AXS Investments.
Strong economic data has put pressure on growth stocks, which are more likely to be impacted by potential interest hike. IHS Markit’s data showed U.S. business activity picked up in May amid strong domestic demand, but backlogs of uncompleted work are piling up as manufacturers struggle to find raw materials and labor.
Following a three-day slump, Wall Street’s main indexes gained ground on Thursday after data showed the fewest U.S. weekly jobless claims since the pandemic-driven recession in 2020, pointing to a pickup in labor market.
The Nasdaq Composite finished Friday down by 64.75 points, or 0.48%, to 13,470.99. Despite the weakness on Friday, the Nasdaq ended a four-week losing streak as investors continue to rotate around tech-related mega-cap shares, which recently took the biggest hit on inflation worries.
“Investors have to change their mindset and understand that tech is going to be a longer trade now. They’re unlikely to see that 20% pop in Apple in the next couple of months,” said Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs.
Bitcoin dropped after China’s Vice Premier Liu He said his government will crack down on the virtual currency’s mining and trading activities. Cryptocurrency-related stocks such as Coinbase Global fell by 3.9%.
Ford Motor Co surged by 6.7% in its biggest one-day gain since December after it announced plans on Thursday to form a battery joint venture in the United States with South Korean battery maker SK Innovation to support its electric vehicle rollout, confirming a Reuters report earlier.
Nvidia Corp added 2.6% after announcing a four-for-one stock split, as it looks to make its stock less expensive for investors.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.08 billion shares. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.46-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.26-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 119 new highs and 34 new lows.
The July crude oil contract was up US$1.64 at US$63.58 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was down 1.4 cents at US$2.98 per mmBTU.
The June gold contract was down US$5.20 at US$1,876.70 an ounce and the July copper contract was down 8.7 cents at US$4.48 a pound.
Reuters, The Canadian Press, Globe staff
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