TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index moved lower on Thursday as energy, industrial and tech stocks weighed on Bay St., while U.S. markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 52.48 points at 22,988.28.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 219.22 points at 40,755.75. The S&P 500 index was down 16.66 points at 5,503.41, while the Nasdaq composite was up 43.36 points at 17,127.66.
“Everyone’s just in a holding pattern,” said Stephen Duench, vice-president and portfolio manager at AGF Investments Inc.
Jobs data on both sides of the border is due on Friday, but the U.S. report in particular is “likely the most important economic data point of the summer,” said Duench.
After the last report, markets had a temper tantrum over fears that the U.S. was headed for an economic hard landing, said Duench. Odds for a 50-basis-point interest rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve in September rose, he said, and if the trend in economic data continues to look weak, those bets will ramp up.
Markets are currently pricing in about a 60 per cent likelihood that the Fed will cut by 25 basis points this month, with about 40 per cent betting it will cut by a half-percentage point, according to data from CME Group.
A mixed bag of economic reports in the U.S. on Thursday indicated layoffs remain low even as hiring appeared to slow down, while growth for businesses in the finance, health care and other services industries was stronger last month than expected.
The mixed data didn’t “move the needle one way or the other,” said Duench.
The stakes are lower for the Canadian labour report as the Bank of Canada this week already announced its third rate cut, he said.
“We’re already dovish on this side of the border,” he said.
“It just really comes down to, is the U.S. joining the interest rate cut party?”
However, the question isn’t if the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut rates in September, but by how much, Duench said.
“Everyone’s waiting for tomorrow to really dictate how volatile the rest of September is going to be,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74 cents US compared with 73.94 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was down less than a penny at US$69.15 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up 10 cents at US$2.25 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$17.10 at US$2,543.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.14 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
