Canada's main stock index sat flat on Monday, despite by gains in energy and financial stocks.
At 11:31 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index was down 7.32 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 16,386.45.
Five of the index’s 11 major sectors were higher, led by a 0.6-per-cent rise in the energy sector and a 0.2-per-cent gain in financials.
The financial sector was boosted by shares of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., which rose 2 per cent, while Sun Life Financial Inc. rose 0.8 per cent.
Husky Energy Inc. jumped 3 per cent, while Encana Corp. rose 2 per cent.
U.S. technology stocks fell once again on Monday and deepened their steep losses from the end of last week. It’s a sharp turnaround for a group that had long been the stock market’s undisputed leader.
A jump for energy stocks helped to offset the losses, but U.S. indexes were modestly lower in late morning trading ahead of a busy week full of central-bank meetings, corporate earnings reports and the monthly U.S. jobs report.
The S&P 500 was down 9 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 2,809, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Dow Jones industrial average lost 44 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 25,406.
The Nasdaq composite has more technology stocks among its ranks, and it fell 82, or 1.1 per cent, to 7,654. It’s on pace for its third straight loss of at least 1 per cent, which would be the first time that has happened in nearly three years.
Slightly more stocks rose on the New York Stock Exchange than fell.
Technology stocks in the S&P 500 slumped 1.7 per cent for the sharpest loss among the 11 sectors that make up the index. It follows a rough week for the industry after earnings reports from Facebook and Twitter raised concerns about their growth and sent their shares plummeting. Twitter dropped 5.8 per cent to $32.16, following its 20.5 per cent plunge on Friday.
Even with its recent tumble, though, the technology sector remains one of the leaders for the S&P 500 for the year thanks to its outsized gains earlier.
The Federal Reserve will begin a two-day meeting Tuesday on interest-rate policy. The Fed has said that it may raise rates two more times in 2018, but few economists expect a move at this upcoming meeting.
More action may come from the Bank of England, which is expected to raise its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday as inflation remains high. The Bank of Japan will also be meeting this week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.1 per cent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.2 per cent.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.3 per cent, and the DAX in Germany dropped 0.4 per cent. The FTSE 100 in London was virtually flat.
Oil gained on Monday as investors remained cautious over the supply outlook, having gained nearly 5 percent in price since the middle of July.
October Brent crude futures were last up 71 cents at $75.47 a barrel. The September contract expires on Tuesday. U.S. crude futures rose $1.37 at $70.06 a barrel.
The oil price has rallied almost uninterruptedly for the past two weeks, as looming sanctions on Iran have already started to curtail flows of oil from the country.
“There are a myriad of factors to follow at the moment in the oil market but one way or the other we always arrive at the same conclusion. It is the impact of the U.S. sanctions on Iran that will decide the next $15 a barrel,” PVM Oil Associates Tamas Varga said in a note.
“The best case scenario is that the U.S. provides meaningful sanction waivers in the run-up to the mid-term elections and Iran can get away with a loss of around 500-700,000 barrels per day of exports. In case, however, President Trump plays hardball and puts its allies and foes under maximum pressure the loss of barrels could amount to 2 million barrels per day.”
Reuters