TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index closed down Wednesday in broad-based losses led by technology and base metals while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 144.22 points at 22,851.17.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 243.60 points at 41,198.08. The S&P 500 index was down 78.93 points at 5,588.27, while the Nasdaq composite was down 512.42 points, or 2.8 per cent, at 17,996.92.
Markets were down as technology stocks, especially on the chip side, felt pressure from more protectionist rhetoric from U.S. politicians, which accelerated a pullback away from the sector, said Brian Madden, chief investment officer with First Avenue Investment Counsel.
“The acceleration in that rotation, I think, is because of comments made on both sides of the aisle, Republican and Democrat, that are talking tougher on China, particularly as it relates to export controls on semiconductors,” he said.
Nvidia, a leader of recent tech-fuelled rallies amid investor optimism over artificial intelligence, saw its share price fall 6.6 per cent.
The move away from technology stocks and toward the value side of investing also comes after encouraging inflation data that has helped firm up expectations that interest rate hikes are done, said Madden.
“Increasingly markets are pricing in interest rate cuts,” he said.
“So some of these interest-rate sensitive sectors that have been laggards, and sources of funds for money that wanted to chase the growth trade and the tech trade, people are giving them a fresh look. That’s coming back, at least in a relative sense.”
The trend helped explain why the Dow came out ahead Wednesday, while the Nasdaq had its worst day since 2022.
Markets have largely priced in September for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first cut, while the Bank of Canada looks set to announce a second one next week.
On the S&P/TSX composite index, the tech index was down 2.9 per cent, including Celestica Inc., which was down just over 10 per cent. Losses were broad-based, however, with most sectors down outside of telecoms, which were up 1.6 per cent.
“Thematically, you’ve got renewed buying interests in things that might not be hyper growth exposure,” said Madden.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.07 cents US, unchanged from Tuesday.
The September crude oil contract was up $2.73 at US$82.44 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down 15 cents at US$2.04 per mmBTU.
The August gold contract was down US$7.90 at US$2,459.90 an ounce and the September copper contract was down four cents at US$4.41 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
