Thursday, May 16, 2024 4:26 PM

TSX Finishes Flat

The fortunes of markets in Toronto waxed and waned Thursday, finally settling just above the breakeven point, largely on the strength of health and consumer staple stocks.

The TSX Composite Index hung onto gains of 15.07 points to conclude Thursday trading at 22,299.83.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.1 cents at 73.44 cents U.S.

Health-care issues ruled the roost among gaining groups, as Tilray acquired 11 cents, or 3.9%, $2.92, and Chartwell Retirement Residences picked up 41 cents, or 3.3%, to $12.69.

Among consumer staples, Saputo climbed 45 cents, or 1.6%, to $28.25, while Loblaw Companies grabbed $2.22, or 1.4%, to $157.36.

In tech issues, Lightspeed Commerce rumbled $3.17, or 18.3%, to $20.54, while Kinaxis leaped $4.26, or 2.8%, to $156.26.

Gold let the side down somewhat, with Seabridge Gold sinking 77 cents, or 3.8%, to $19.55, while Lundin Gold dipped 27 cents, or 1.3%, to $19.93.

Among materials, First Quantum Minerals disposed of 53 cents, or 2.9%, to $18.07, while Stella Jones fell $2.55, or 3%, to $81.26.

In the communications field, Cogeco Communications faded 42 cents to $56.42, while BCE stepped back 28 cents, or 0.6%, to $46.75.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.24 points to 603.27.

All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground Thursday, with health-care higher 1.4%, consumer staples moving ahead 0.5%, and information technology climbing 0.3%.

The three laggards proved to be gold, down 0.4%, while communications dipped 0.1%, and materials eased off 0.01%.

ON WALLSTREET

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped above 40,000 for the first time as the bull market marched higher on bets that inflationary pressures would ease and interest rates would come down.

The 30-stock index slid 38.62 points to 39,869.38. The index had neared the 40,000-point mark earlier this year, before a slight April pullback on worries about high interest rates knocked it back down. The rally was rekindled in May on the back of strong earnings and some soft inflation readings.

The S&P 500 lost 11.05 points to 5,297.10

The NASDAQ Composite shed 44.07 points to 16,698.32.

Earlier in the day, the broader market index climbed to a new record after closing above the 5,300 level for the first time ever on Wednesday,

It was Walmart that led the charge above 40,000 as the world’s biggest retailer popped 6% on strong fiscal first-quarter results. Walmart is now up 26% on the year.

On top of that, tech-related darlings such as Amazon, Meta Platforms and Nvidia are all up sharply year to date.

Amazon, which just joined the more than century-old Dow in the first quarter, is more than 22% higher for the year. Other top Dow performers this year include American Express and Goldman Sachs. Both stocks were up more than 20% as investors bet the economy would skirt a recession and the consumer would remain strong.

That performance was helped by the April reading of the consumer price index, a broad measure of how much goods and services cost at the cash register, which increased 0.3% from the prior month. That was slightly below the Dow Jones estimate of 0.4%. Consumer prices still grew 3.4% from a year ago.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury inched back, raising yields to 4.38% from Wednesday’s 4.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices gained 66 cents to $79.29 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices erased $11.10 to $2,383.80.