TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was down more than 150 points Thursday, weighed down by losses in energy and telecom, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 153.61 points at 19,774.08.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 35.27 points at 32,764.65. The S&P 500 index was up 36.04 points at 4,151.28, while the Nasdaq composite was up 213.93 points at 12,698.09.
The ongoing uncertainty over the debt ceiling has been in the background as talks continue, weighing more on markets when there wasn’t much other news to sway investors, said Mike Archibald, vice-president and portfolio manager with AGF Investments Inc. But on Thursday the debt ceiling talks had less of a direct impact, he said.
“Today, there are a whole host of other things that are, I think, drawing investor attention,” said Archibald.
The biggest talking point in the U.S. Thursday was Nvidia, said Archibald. The company saw its stock rise more than 24 per cent on the day after exceeding earnings expectations with its report late Wednesday, and also forecast a large jump in revenue.
“The Nvidia numbers … were just so significantly large to the upside, it really caught a lot of people by surprise,” Archibald said.
The Nasdaq’s rise Thursday is part of a running theme this year, said Arhcibald, where large tech stocks — especially those with exposure to artificial intelligence — have been recouping their losses from last year and outperforming the market as a whole.
“If you haven’t been in … big cap technology, it’s been a really challenging year,” he said.
North of the border, four of the five big banks missed earnings estimates this week, with only CIBC beating analyst expectations. Royal Bank of Canada, CIBC and TD all reported Thursday.
RBC and TD saw their stocks go down, while Scotiabank and Bank of Montreal were up after posting losses Wednesday following their earnings releases. CIBC stocks were up.
As a result, the financial index on the TSX was only down 0.6 per cent, while larger losses in other sectors including energy weighed on the index.
Arhicbald said key themes across the banks were too-high expenses and higher provisions for bad loans.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s a slowdown happening here,” he said.
Oil pared back some of its recent gains, but it remained within the range it’s been stuck in, said Archibald.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.38 cents UScompared with 73.63 cents US on Wednesday.
The July crude contract was down US$2.51 at US$71.83 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was down nine cents at US$2.48 per mmBTU.
The June gold contract was down US$20.90 at US$1,943.70 an ounceand the July copper contract was up three cents at US$3.59 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX_CADUSD=X)
