TORONTO — Canada's main stock market inched upward in trading on Wednesday, rebounding slightly from the day before even as U.S. markets sagged.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 69.29 points to 20,275.27, boosted by energy stocks as oil prices were up and partially offset by health care and metals.
Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management, called it “a little bit more of a defensive day,” with telecom, staples and utilities stocks up.
“These are very, very defensive sectors. I think investors are just positioning themselves for the potential for a little bit more volatility as we head into the fall,” said Petursson.
“We've seen some weaker global economic data this week, specifically with China, where they're seeing much lower inflation, in fact deflation, in some segments of their economy and that's just weighing on overall investor sentiment globally.”
He said equity investors are shifting out of the economically sensitive sectors into more defensive ones.
Another factor benefiting the TSX is the much cheaper valuation of Canadian stocks compared with those in the U.S., which could be attracting some foreign investors into Canada, said Petursson.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 191.13 points to 35,123.36. The S&P 500 index was down 31.67 points at 4,467.71, while the Nasdaq composite fell 162.31 points to 13,722.02.
The Canadian dollar traded at 74.45 cents US compared with 74.32 cents US on Tuesday.
The downward movement south of the border comes ahead of a highly anticipated report on inflation arriving Thursday. which investors hope will give the Federal Reserve reason to halt its hikes to interest rates.
“It seems that they've left the door open for one more, but that would be working against investors in the equity markets,” said Petursson.
He said the upcoming data could be “tricky” for investors to navigate.
“We're going to see kind of the low watermark for inflation in the United States for the year,” said Petursson.
“From here through to the end of the year, we're probably going to see U.S. inflation tick a little bit higher, but investors are really going to be looking for a sense out of the Federal Reserve as to whether the Fed is done raising rates.”
The September crude oil contract was up US$1.48 at US$84.40 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was up 18 cents at US$2.96 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$9.30 at US$1,950.60 an ounce and the September copper contract was up almost two cents at US$3.78 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version included incorrect closing figures for the S&P/TSX composite index.
