Equities in Canada could not boast the same resilience of their American cousin, but did mount something of a comeback by Monday’s closing bell from the gulch in which many of them found themselves in the early going. Techs and consumer stocks led much of the charge toward breakeven.
The S&P/TSX Composite came off its lows of the morning, but still gave back 50.09 points to end Monday’s session at 20,571.30.
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.44 cents at 79.16 cents U.S.
Energy weighed most among the losing sub-groups, as Tourmaline Oil faded $1.93., or 4.3%, to $43.32, while Canadian Natural Resources lost $1.91, or 3%, to $62.07.
Among other resource stocks, Fortuna Silver Mines was off 21 cents, or 4.7%, to $4.43, while First Majestic Silver ducked 76 cents, or 5.5%, to $13.11.
In financials, CI Financial dipped 92 cents, or 3.7%, to $23.97, while Home Capital Group descended $1.52, or 3.9%, to $37.37/
Techs led gainers, with Shopify hurtling $71.26, or 6.4%, to $1,181.66, while Haivision Systems up 18 cents, or 2.8%, to $6.60.
In consumer staples, Alimentation Couche-Tard jumped $1.06, or 2.2%, to $49.65, while Saputo picked up 53 cents, or 2%, to $27.45.
In the consumer discretionary section, BRP Inc. hiked $4.29, or 4.5%, $99.99, while MTY Group gathered $1.79, or 3.3%, to $55.85.
A convoy of truckers started their march from Vancouver on Sunday to Ottawa protesting the government's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for truckers, which the industry says would create driver shortages and fuel inflation.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange forfeited 18.21 points, or 2.1%, to finish the session at 838.41.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups ended lower, with energy worse off 1.9%, materials down 1.3%, and financials poorer by 1.2%.
The three gainers were information technology, ahead 0.9%, consumer staples, strengthening 0.7%, and consumer discretionary stocks, eking up 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks mounted a dramatic comeback on Monday as investors stepped in to buy beaten-up tech shares.
The Dow Jones Industrials crawled out of their cave and actually gained 99.13 points to 33,364.50, gaining for the first day in seven. The Dow rallied after being down 1,115 points at one point.
The S&P 500 progressed 12.19 points to 4,410.13.
The NASDAQ picked up 86.21 points to finish at 13,855.12,
Monday ended up being one of the best market comebacks in quite a long time. This is the first time since the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008 that the NASDAQ had been down more than 4% intraday and closed up. For the Dow, which was down 3.25% at its low, it was the biggest comeback since the wild trading of March 2020.
Investors began Monday’s session dumping technology shares, as they have all month, on fears the Federal Reserve would soon aggressively tighten policy. However, those shares rebounded as the day went on with Facebook-parent Meta, Amazon and Microsoft closing higher.
Monday’s pullback still put the S&P 500 down 7.5% this month, on pace for its worst monthly performance since March 2020. The rout this year initially centered around the NASDAQ and technology stocks with investors rotating out of shares whose valuations look less attractive as rates rise.
Investors are looking ahead to the Fed’s policy meeting, which wraps up on Wednesday. Market participants will be looking for any signals on how much the central bank will raise interest rates this year and when it will start.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates, meets with expectations that it won’t act at this meeting but will tee up the first of multiple rate hikes starting in March. In addition, the Fed is expected to wrap up its monthly asset purchase program that same month.
Investors also monitored geopolitical tensions as Russia built up its military presence at the Ukrainian border. President Joe Biden is set to speak with European leaders Monday amid fears of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys crumbled, raising yields to 1.77% from Friday’s 1.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid $1.36 to $83.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $10.70 to $1,842.50 U.S. an ounce.
