Canada’s main stock index rose on Monday for a fourth straight day as Barrick Gold Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and oil prices rebounded, while investors grew optimistic that interest rates are nearing a peak. Wall Street closed mostly flat as a revenue warning from chipmaker Nvidia served as a reminder of a slowing U.S. economy.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended 49.04 points, or 0.25%, higher at 19,669.17, after touching its highest intraday level since mid-June at 19,768.01.
Stock markets globally have rallied in recent weeks after being buffeted this year by geopolitical uncertainty and central bank interest rate hikes to tackle soaring inflation.
On Wall Street Monday, stocks retreated from earlier highs as last week’s blowout labour market report was initially seen as a sign the economy could withstand aggressive interest rate hikes by the Fed to tame inflation running at four-decade highs.
Investors now await consumer price data on Wednesday to gauge whether the Fed might ease a bit in its inflation fight and provide better footing for the economy to grow.
U.S. rate futures have priced in a 67.5% chance of a 75-basis-point hike at the Fed’s next meeting in September, up from about 41% before the labor market data on Friday beat market expectations.
Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise in Troy, Michigan, said the market was due to pull back at some point as traders test the recent rebound.
“Maybe we can get a little bit higher by year end, but that’s if everything lines up perfectly,” he said, adding that the University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment survey for August on Friday also will be closely watched.
“That’s the tug of war between these data sets that tell the story about, ‘Hey, are we going to turn into a recession or avoid one?’”
Others feel more confident stocks have further to climb.
“We’re very bullish and optimistic only because we think the bulk of the interest rates increases have happened,” said Lorne Steinberg, president, Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. “Inflation should probably start to taper off towards the end of the year.”
In Toronto, Barrick rose 3.3% after reporting a quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates, while the materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 2.1%.
The energy sector ended up 0.6% as oil prices rebounded from a six-month low they hit on Friday. U.S. crude oil futures settled 2% higher at $90.76 a barrel.
Cenovus Energy Inc rose 3.4% after the company said it will buy the remaining 50% stake it does not already own in Ohio-based BP-Husky Toledo Refinery for $300 million from British energy firm BP PLC.
Heavily weighted financials dipped 0.3% but have still rebounded 7.5% from their July low.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 29.07 points, or 0.09%, to 32,832.54, while the S&P 500 lost 5.13 points, or 0.12%, to 4,140.06 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 13.10 points, or 0.1%, to 12,644.46. The S&P 500 has bounced back 14% from mid-June lows.
The information technology sector fell 0.9% as chipmaker Nvidia Corp slid 6.3% after the company said it expects second-quarter revenue to decline 19% from the prior quarter to about $6.7 billion, due to weakness in gaming.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index slid 1.6%, while value stocks rose 0.1% to outpace a 0.4% drop in growth.
Tesla rose 0.8% as the U.S. electric-car maker signed contracts worth about $5 billion to buy battery materials from nickel processing companies in Indonesia, according to a CNBC report.
Shares of U.S. automakers jumped after the U.S. Senate on Sunday passed a $430 billion bill to fight climate change that created a $4,000 tax credit for used electric vehicles and provides billions in funding for their production.
Rivian Automotive Inc rose 6.78%, Ford Motor Co gained 3.14%, General Motors Co added 4.16% and Lordstown Motors Corp advanced 3.17%.
Signify Health Inc shot up 11.0% on a media report that CVS Health Corp was looking to buy the health technology company.
Palantir Technologies Inc dropped 14.2% after the data analytics software company lowered its annual revenue forecast as the timing of some large government contracts remained uncertain.
Tyson Foods Inc fell 8.4% after missing quarterly profit expectations.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.28-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.67-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted eight new 52-week highs and 29 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 104 new highs and 27 new lows.
Reuters, Globe staff
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