TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index posted modest gains Wednesday as strength in energy and technology, among other sectors, helped outweigh weakness in base metals, while U.S. markets were mixed.
Markets were “all over the place” Wednesday, said Michael Currie, senior investment adviser at TD Wealth.
Some sectors were gaining, while others declined, without much of a pattern to the moves, said Currie.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 85.76 points at 19,818.85.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 74.08 points at 33,852.66. The S&P 500 index was down 1.55 points at 4,376.86,while the Nasdaq composite was up 36.08 points at 13,591.75.
One of the more notable moves was among semiconductor companies, which were trending lower, said Currie. Nvidia shares were down 1.8 per cent, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. was down 1.14 per cent.
“There’s a report that the Biden administration is considering restricting sales of AI chips to China. So all those stocks got hit down pretty hard,” Currie said.
Investors were also watching as the Federal Reserve’s Jerome Powell joined other central bank leaders in Sintra, Portugal for the European Central Bank’s monetary policy conference.
Speaking on a panel Wednesday, Powell said “the bottom line is that policy hasn’t been restrictive enough for long enough.”
Most of the central bank leaders on the panel agreed that strong labour markets are helping push prices higher, and that interest rates are expected to keep rising in the fight against inflation.
“Generally, they were still talking tough,” said Currie. “They’re vowing to keep fighting inflation. They’re not seeing enough evidence of slowing down.”
Meanwhile in Canada, energy stocks rose as the price of oil made gains on the heels of news that U.S. crude inventories were lower than expected last week.
Gold was hit pretty hard Wednesday, noted Currie, reaching a three-month low after a decent run, which he attributed to the rhetoric on interest rates from central bankers.
“That’s bad for gold. So at least that market seems to be indicating there’s going to be some significant moves upward still happening,” he said.
The August gold contract was down US$1.60 at US$1,922.20 an ounce.
The Canadian dollar traded for 75.45 cents UScompared with 75.90 cents US on Tuesday.
The August crude contract was up US$1.86 at US$69.56 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down 12 cents at US$2.67 per mmBTU.
The September copper contract was down five cents at US$3.74 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX_CADUSD=X)
