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Equities
Canada’s main stock index slid at the open Monday with weaker gold prices weighing on miners. On Wall Street, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq started the holiday-shortened week at record highs after U.S. President Joe Biden said he would nominate Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for another term.
At 9:42 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 39.9 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 21,515.13.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 29.43 points, or 0.08 per cent, at the open to 35,631.41.
The S&P 500 opened higher by 14.04 points, or 0.30 per cent, at 4,712.00, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 63.49 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 16,120.92 at the opening bell.
U.S. markets will be closed Thursday and will close early on Friday for American Thanksgiving.
“Based on the historical data, the Thanksgiving week is a strong week for the U.S. equities; there is a two-thirds chance that we will see the US stocks up on the day before and after Thanksgiving,” Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said.
“Of course, the Black Friday sales will be closely watched this week and the expectations are quite strong. The National Retail Federation predicts that the holiday sales between November and December should increase between 8.5 and 10.5 per cent this year, to somewhere around US$850-billion.”
However, she also noted that at least part of that increase will be the result of inflation, with shoppers paying more for goods.
The other key event for U.S. markets will be the naming of the next chair of the Federal Reserve. Ahead of the market open, the White House said Mr. Powell will be nominated for a second four-year term. Lael Brainard, the Federal Reserve board member who was the other lead candidate, will be vice chair, the White House said.
In this country, the CRTC hearing into Rogers Communications Inc.’s $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. gets underway. The Globe’s Alexandra Posadzki reports Edward Rogers and Brad Shaw will appear in front of Canada’s telecom regulator on Monday to make their case for why the deal is vital to the future of both telecom companies. The five-day Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearing in Gatineau will kick off after weeks of boardroom drama at Rogers, which culminated in the departure of the company’s chief executive, Joe Natale, last week.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.05 per cent by midday. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.06 per cent. Germany’s DAX was off 0.17 per cent while France’s CAC 40 fell 0.35 per cent. The prospect of further COVID-19 restrictions has cast a pall over trading. On Friday, Austria announced a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of the virus.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.09 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.39 per cent.
Terry Weber