Equities in Canada’s largest centre stayed flat in choppy trading on Monday, lifted by health-care and tech stocks, although the gains were limited as investors feared that aggressive central bank policy tightening could trigger a potential global economic downturn.
The TSX Composite remained 2.03 points below breakeven to move into noon hour Monday at 18,478.95.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.56 cents to 73.06 cents U.S.
Shares of Lightspeed Commerce jumped 18 cents, to $23.02, after Scotiabank started coverage on the software company with "sector
outperform" rating."
Elsewhere in tech stocks, Kinaxis leaped $7.46, or 5.7%, to $138.58.
Bausch Health Companies hiked 66 cents, or 6.9%, to $10.22, while Tilray grabbed eight cents, or 2.2%, to $3.77.
Meanwhile, a Federal government official said on Sunday it would take several months for this country to restore critical infrastructure after the powerful storm Fiona left an "unprecedented" trail of destruction.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 1.35 points to 579.41.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive by noon, with health-care soaring 2.4%, information technology better by 1.2%, and consumer staples up 0.7%.
The four laggards were weighed most by utilities, down 1.3%, communications, off 0.9%, and energy, fading 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell on Monday as investors worried surging interest rates and foreign currency turmoil could push the S&P 500 to a new closing low for the year.
The 30-stock index kept on its negative trend, losing 197.74 points to 29,392.67.
The S&P 500 let go of previous gains and again dropped 18.01 points from its 2022 closing low, to 3,675.22.
The NASDAQ Composite was 4.2 points shy of breakeven to 10,863.73.
Consumer discretionary strengthened 1.3%, and information technology climbed 0.8%, to give support to stocks. Casino stocks led outperformance. Wynn Resorts jumped 12.9%, and Las Vegas Sands was 12.5% higher, following news that China would allow tour groups in Macau for the first time in nearly three years.
The British pound dropped to a record low on Monday against the U.S. dollar. Sterling at one point fell 4% to an all-time low of $1.0382. The Federal Reserve’s aggressive hiking campaign, coupled with U.K.’s tax cuts announced last week has caused the U.S. dollar to surge.
The euro hit the lowest versus the dollar since 2002. A surging greenback can hurt the profits of U.S. multinationals and also wreak havoc on global trade, with so much of it transacted in dollars.
Treasury prices sagged, bringing yields up to 3.80% from Friday’s 3.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite direction.
Oil prices lost 74 cents to $78.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dwindled $13.50 to $1,642.10 U.S. an ounce.
