Canada's main stock index was set for a second consecutive week of declines after TSX fell on Friday, led by losses in energy shares, while expectations rose that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold back on any further interest rate hikes as inflation cools down.
The TSX Composite fell 81.26 points to pause for lunch Friday at 18,794.05.
The index was down for the eighth consecutive session at its lowest since October 22.
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.24 cents at 72.20 cents U.S.
On the companies’ front, shares of Imperial Oil slid $1.48, or 1.8%, to $79.82 after it posted a sharp drop in its third-quarter profits, hurt by lower commodity prices.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.25 points to 520.35.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative by noon, with utilities sliding 1.2%, energy down 1%, and financials off 0.8%.
The four gainers were led by industrials, up 0.5%, while gold and materials each climbed 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite rose Friday, trying to recover some of this week’s steep losses. Amazon gave a boost to tech-related shares on the back of strong quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrials dumped 132.83 points by midday Friday at 32,651.47
The S&P 500 index forged ahead 7.25 points to 4,144.48.
The NASDAQ progressed 143.75 points, or 1.1%, to 12,739.35
Amazon added 8% after the e-commerce giant trounced analysts’ expectations for revenue and earnings in the third quarter. Other mega-cap stocks such as Microsoft followed Amazon shares higher.
Ford dropped nearly 9%, however, after the company missed third-quarter earnings expectations and pulled its guidance for the year, citing the UAW strike. Chevron shares were down more than 5% after the energy giant reported earnings.
All three major averages are on track for steep weekly losses. The Dow and S&P 500 are down 1% and 1.8%, respectively, for the week. The NASDAQ has fallen 2% in that time, dragged down from steep declines in Meta Platforms and Google-parent company Alphabet.
Traders also weighed new inflation data after the core personal consumption expenditures reading for September was released.
Core PCE increased 0.3% last month and 3.7% year over year, matching estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones. Consumer spending increased 0.7%, however, surpassing estimates of 0.5%. PCE is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded a mite, raising yields to 4.86% from Thursday’s 4.84%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 93 cents to $84.14 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $8.40 to $1,989.10.
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