TORONTO — Weakness in energy and telecoms helped Canada's main stock index tick lower after a mixed day of trading Monday, while U.S. markets rose as earnings season rolled forward.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 35.28 points at 20,226.79.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 76.32 points at 34,585.35. The S&P 500 index was up 17.37 points at 4,522.79, while the Nasdaq composite was up 131.25 points at 14,244.95.
South of the border, “Everybody’s warming up for earnings season,” said Pierre-Benoît Gauthier, assistant vice-president of investment strategy at IG Wealth Management.
U.S. earnings for the second quarter were off to a positive start Friday as major banks stepped over the low expectations set by investors and analysts, said Gauthier.
“I think that people are seeing that expectations have been so low for the Q2 numbers, that there’s going to be some easy beats in there because the U.S. economy is just not as bad as feared,” he said.
That optimism is helping buoy U.S. stocks despite continued worries about China’s economic growth — or lack thereof, said Gauthier.
China’s economic growth missed estimates in the second quarter of 2023, growing at an annual pace of 6.3 per cent, when analysts had forecast seven per cent. Unemployment among youth also rose to a record 21.3 per cent in June.
This likely weighed on oil Monday, said Gauthier, which was down near US$74 a barrel after rallying as high as over US$77 a barrel last week.
“This China data definitely put some water on that fire,” he said.
Oil is being pulled in two directions, said Gauthier, with low U.S. reserves and continued production cuts keeping prices higher even as concerns about global demand weigh on prices.
With oil down, energy weighed on the TSX Monday on a mixed day of trading as investors prepared for the next inflation numbers to drop Tuesday, less than a week after the Bank of Canada raised interest rates again.
In the U.S., more earnings this week from the financial sector — in particular the commentary that comes with those earnings — will provide more insight into how consumers have been faring, said Gauthier.
“It's not as much the result as the commentary because these guys have their finger on the pulse of the consumer, and it will be interesting to see.”
The Canadian dollar traded for 75.83 cents US compared with 75.86 cents US on Friday.
The September crude contract was down US$1.24 at US$74.08 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down three at US$2.51 per mmBTU.
The August gold contract was down US$8.00 at US$1,956.40 an ounceand the September copper contract was down nine cents at US$3.84 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
