Stocks Travel Lower to Cool off Hot Week - InvestingChannel

Stocks Travel Lower to Cool off Hot Week

Equities bade farewell to a short week in Canada by sliding just a bit, following three days of strong gains.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index deducted 34.62 points to finish the day and the week at 16,544.48. The index hiked 375 points, or 2.32%, on the week.

The Canadian dollar eased 0.36 cents to 74.72 cents U.S.

Markets were closed in Canada on Monday.

Energy stocks led the gainers, as Tourmaline Oil took on 65 cents, or 4.1%, to $16.35, while Whitecap Resources pumped 10 cents higher, or 4%, to $2.58.

In industrials, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers gained $9.52, or 14.6%, to $74.62, while Brookfield Business Partners hiked $1.86, or 5%, to $38.97.

Financials did well, too, as Home Capital Group added 90 cents, or 4%, to $23.61, or 4%, to $23.61, while Great West Lifeco collected 64 cents, or 2.5%, to $26.34.

On the other hand, health-care issues dawdled, as Bausch Health Companies handed back $2.68, or 10%, to $24.15, while Canopy Growth slid $1.08, or 4.6%, to $22.23.

Tech issues moved lower, as Kinaxis shares slid $14.47, or 6.5%, to $209.23, while Constellation Software deducted $75.33, or 4.6%, to $1,556.50.

Gold shares dulled in price, particularly, Alacer Gold, down 66 cents, or 6.5%, to $9.56, while Centerra Gold docked 80 cents, or 4.3%, to $17.98.

On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada revealed the economy got 419,000 jobs back in July, rising 2.4%, compared with the 953,000-job, or 5.8%, rise in June. Combined with gains of 290,000 in May, this brought employment to within 1.3 million (or 7.0%) of its pre-COVID February level.

The IVEY School of Business at Western University released its Purchasing Managers Index for July. The index jumped to 68.2, outdistancing the 58.2 reading in June and topping the 54.2 standing in July 2019.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange faded 2.13 points by Friday’s close to 739.98, still posting a weekly gain of 18.74 points, or 2.6%.

The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, as energy and industrials each marched ahead 1.1%, while financials were richer by 0.9%.

The half-dozen laggards were anchored most by health-care, down 3.8%, information technology, off 2.3%, and gold, sliding 2%.

ON WALLSTREET

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 eked out small gains on Friday, shaking off concerns over rising U.S.-China tensions and ongoing coronavirus stimulus negotiations.

The 30-stock index shook off negative vibes and gained 46.5 points to finish the week at 27,433.48. The Dow triumphed more than a thousand points on the week, or 3.8%.

The S&P 500 recovered 2.12 points to 3,351.28. The much-broader index collected more than 80 points, or 2.45%. The gains were enough to stretch the Dow and S&P’s winning streaks to six days.

The NASDAQ fell 97.09 points, to close Friday at 11,010.98, snapping a seven-session winning streak. Amazon dropped 1.8%, and Netflix fell 2.8%. Microsoft dropped 1.8% and Apple slid 2.3%. Even so, the tech-heavy index jumped 265 points, or 2.47% on the week.

President Donald Trump issued on Thursday executive orders to address “the threat posed” by Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat. As part of the order, any transaction with ByteDance and Tencent, the parent companies of TikTok and WeChat, respectively, will be barred in 45 days.

It comes as tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to escalate over several issues including the origins of the coronavirus and democracy in Hong Kong. Bloomberg News reported Friday the U.S. was poised to sanction Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

The U.S. economy added 1.763 million jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 1.4 million. The U.S. unemployment rate was also better than expected, falling to 10.2%. The jobs reports for June and May were also revised sharply higher.

Prices for the 10-Year Treasury fell, raising yields to 0.56% from Thursday’s 0.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices subtracted 43 cents to $41.52 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices leaped $28.60 to $2,040.30 U.S. an ounce.