Stocks in Canada’s busiest market waned on Monday, weighed by resource stocks while investors await key economic data scheduled for later in the week to assess this year's interest rate cut trajectory.
The TSX Composite Index faded 23.97 points by noon to 22,284.96.
The Canadian dollar added 0.0.4 cents at 73.12 cents U.S.
The consumer staples index was supported by jump of $5.31, or 6%, in the shares of Premium Brands Holdings as the specialty food producer, marketer and distributor beat first quarter results.
On the corporate front, Bitfarms shares fell 16 cents, or 6.5%, to $2,21 as the bitcoin mining company announced that it had fired its outgoing chief executive Geoffrey Morphy with immediate effect. Nicolas Bonta has been appointed on an interim basis.
On the economic calendar, building permits decreased 11.7% to $10.5 billion in March.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged ahead 0.91 points to pause for lunch at 598.10.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative, with gold down 1%, while materials shed 0.8%, and industrials were off 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, up 2.1%, while consumer discretionary and financials each jumped 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed Monday as traders grappled with rising inflation expectations ahead of key reports due later in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 8.6 points to 39,504.24.
The S&P 500 inched ahead 3.2 points to 5,225.88
The NASDAQ gained 56.61 points to 16,397.47.
The 30-stock Dow is coming off its best weekly performance of 2024, rising more than 2% last week. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ climbed more than 1% each during that period.
Shares of meme stock GameStop soared 87% after “Roaring Kitty,” the moniker of the Reddit trader behind 2021's short squeeze, posted online for the first time in three years.
Investors will look for insights into the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy moving forward with April’s consumer price index report due out on Wednesday. Traders hope that a return to rate hikes is largely off the table for the Fed despite a slew of hotter-than-expected inflation prints in recent months.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, pushing yields down to 4.47% from Friday’s 4.50%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 71 cents to $78.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices ditched $31.90 to $2,343.10.
Stocks Rise as Dow Builds on Last Week’s Performance
