Canada's main stock index was largely unchanged on Monday, as investors assessed strength in tech against a decline in energy stocks after oil prices retreated following a pause in strikes between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend.
The TSX came off its highs of the morning, but stayed above water 18.73 points to 35,387.83.
The Canadian dollar was flat to 70.92 cents U.S.
Shopify jumped $14.77, or 9.2%, to $175.23, while Open Text captured $1.93, or 6.1%, to $33.49, and Descartes Systems added $4.57, or 4.7%, to $100.80.
Real estate firm Altus Group took $2.33, or 5.2%, to $47.06, after the company appointed Katie Royce as the new CFO, effective August 3.
Oil prices tumbled after Washington and Tehran paused fighting ?over the weekend, raising hopes of a resumption of shipping through ?the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent Crude futures slipped over 7%, while West Texas Intermediate Crude shed 6.9%.
Investors are awaiting ?a fresh round ?of corporate earnings, including second-quarter results from technology firm Celestica ?Inc and energy infrastructure company Gibson Energy, due after the ?closing bell.
Celestica shares lost $9.79, or 2.3%, to $420.28, while those for Gibson shed 56 cents, or 1.8%, to $30.55.
On the trade front, Canada and the United ?Arab Emirates concluded negotiations on Friday, paving the way ?for an agreement ?that would help Ottawa diversify trade beyond the U.S. and help the Gulf nation increase non-oil exports.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 9.87 points, or 1.1%, Monday to 878.49.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, with information technology surging 3.9%, while consumer discretionary stocks took on 1.4%, and real-estate hiked 1%.
The four laggards were weighed most by energy, wilting 3%, utilities, off 1%, and materials, surrendering 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 plunged into the red on Monday as chip stocks slid, even as the market positively reacted to a pause in fighting between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrials were still ahead 82.74 points to 52,029.99.
The much-broader index went south 14.04 points to 7,397.94
The NASDAQ Composite gave back 101.26 points to 24,874.57.
Semiconductor stocks were down broadly. AMD and Teradyne dropped about 8% each to lead the declines. Micron Technology shed roughly 5%.
U.S.-listed shares of ASML, the dominant player in the space, fell more than 7% on the back of the report.
The week ahead will have no shortage of challenges for the major averages. A succession of quarterly reports from Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft will either soothe investor fears of rampant artificial intelligence spending, or add to them, after Alphabet’s disappointing results in the last week.
The results could directly affect semiconductor companies that are the chief beneficiaries of the AI spending spree.
The Fed will make its latest decision on interest rates on Wednesday. The consensus view is that the central bank will hike rates in September, but markets are pricing in the meaningful possibility that the Fed will lift its benchmark borrowing rate a quarter percentage point as soon as this week.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury hiked, lowering yields from 4.67% to 4.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid $6.22 to $83.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices tacked on $9.20 to $4,080 U.S. an ounce.
