Futures for stocks in Canada’s largest centre edged lower on Monday due to heightening tensions between United States and China over the origin of the coronavirus.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index sagged 160.4 points, or 1.1%, to finish Friday and the week at 14,620.34. On the week, the index gained 200 points, or 1.39%.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.23 cents early Monday to 71.02 cents U.S.
June futures retreated 0.3% Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday there was “a significant amount of evidence” that the new coronavirus emerged from a Chinese laboratory, but did not dispute U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that it was not man-made.
Air Canada on Monday posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss and warned of an about 75% drop in third-quarter capacity, as the COVID-19 pandemic-triggered lockdowns kept people at home.
Canada said on Sunday it was giving privately held Canadian firm AbCellera Biologics $176 million to help it find naturally produced antibodies that could be used to battle the coronavirus outbreak.
Corona beer maker Constellation Brands subsidiary has exercised warrants to buy shares of Canopy Growth Corp, increasing its stake to 38.6% in the Canadian marijuana producer.
Berenberg raised the target price on Endeavour Mining to $34.00 from $31.00
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Toromont Industries to $71.00 from $66.00
Eight Capital raised the target price on Whitecap Resources to $3.10 from $2.75
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nosed upward 1.35 points Friday to 473.09, for a gain on the week of 10.5 points, or 2.26%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures fell early Monday morning as traders weighed the reopening of the economy along with brewing tensions between China and the U.S.
Futures for Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 262 points, or 1.1%, early Monday to 23,357.
Futures for the S&P 500 slid 24 points, or 0.9%, at 2,797.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite docked 67.25 points, or 0.8%, to 8,650.75.
Warren Buffett said his Berkshire Hathaway sold all of its airline holdings because of the coronavirus outbreak.
While the legendary investor was optimistic over the long term about the outlook for America, the move shows his concern that the pandemic has changed certain industries permanently and could be a sign that other investors are too optimistic about the economy returning to normal quickly.
Airline shares were the biggest losers in the S&P 500 in the pre-market. Delta, United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines all lost more than 10%, while plane maker Boeing dropped 5.6%.
Berkshire had more than $4 billion invested across United, American, Southwest, and Delta Airlines before the sale. Buffett noted his admiration for the industry but added there are events “on the lower levels of probabilities” that call for a change of plans.
American and United have both fallen more than 60% year to date. Delta is down 57% for 2020 while Southwest has lost nearly half of its value. And the stocks were set for more losses on Monday.
Berkshire also reported a record $137 billion in cash after the first quarter, but Buffett said he doesn’t “see anything that attractive” to deploy that money.
Investors are also grappling with worries over another spat between China and the U.S. On Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was a “significant amount of evidence” connecting the coronavirus to a lab in the Wuhan region of China.
States across the U.S. are letting nonessential businesses reopen and are easing stay-at-home orders in an effort to restart the economy after the coronavirus forced a near-global halt in economic activity. However, this easing comes as data from the World Health Organization showed the U.S. had its deadliest 24 hours of the outbreak between Thursday and Friday.
More than 3.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed globally, including over 1.1 million in the U.S. alone, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Overseas, markets in Hong Kong got tagged 4.2%, while those in Tokyo were shut down for holiday.
Oil prices lost 59 cents to $19.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gaining $14.50 to $1,715.40 U.S. an ounce.