Stocks End Week, July on Wrong Foot - InvestingChannel

Stocks End Week, July on Wrong Foot

Equities in Toronto stumbled to the finish on Friday, weighed on by cannabis share weakness and bad performance in the energy sector.

The TSX Composite index lost 23.98 points to end Friday at 20,287.80. Over the last five sessions, however, the index gained 95 points, or 0.47%.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.19 to 80.14 cents U.S.

Markets in Canada will be closed Monday for holiday.

As mentioned off the top, cannabis stocks took the biggest body blows, as Tilray fell $1.05, or 5.5%, to $18.13, while Canopy Growth shed 76 cents, or 3.1%, to $23.54.

In the oil patch, Imperial Oil dropped 86 cents, or 2.5%, to $34.01, while Tourmaline Oil dropped 74 cents, or 2.1%, to $34.00.

In financials, BMO fell $2.76, or 2.2%, to $123.38, while TD moved downward 94 cents, or 1.2%, to $82.76.

The half-dozen laggards were led by consumer discretionary stocks like BRP, up $1.36, or 1.3%, to $104.59, while Aritzia picked up 40 cents, or 1.1%, to $36.64.

In the industrial field, SNC Lavalin jumped $1.02, or 3.2%, to $33.08, while Mullen Group excelled 41 cents, or 3.1%, to $13.56.

In consumer staples, Jamieson Wellness captured 71 cents, or 2.1%, to $34.80, while Alimentation Couche-Tard shares leaped 83 cents, or 1.7%, to $50.22.

On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said its industrial product price index was unchanged in June, but up 16.8% compared with June 2020.

By contrast, the agency’s raw materials price hiked 3.9% on a monthly basis in June and 38.1% year over year.

The economy scaled back in May, with the Gross Domestic Product contracting 0.3%, the second consecutive monthly decline, as 12 of 20 industrial sectors were down.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange regained 4.36 points to 925.63. On the week, the Venture soared nearly 25 points, or 2.77%.

The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, as health-care dived 2.6%, energy plunged 1.1%, and financials were poorer 0.8%.

The half-dozen laggards were led by consumer discretionary issues, up 1.5%, industrials, up 0.8%, and consumer staples, better by 0.7%.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stocks fell on Friday amid a slide in Amazon shares, but the S&P 500 notched its sixth straight positive month.

The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 149.06 points from Thursday’s all-time record to 34,935.47, despite a jump in Procter & Gamble shares.

On the week, the loss was 108 points, or 0.3%.

The S&P 500 dropped 23.89 points to 4,395.26, from what had also been a fresh high, dragged down by the consumer discretionary and energy sectors. The index lost nine points on the week, or 0.2%.

The NASDAQ lost 105.59 points on the day to 14,672.68. On the week, the descent amounted to 127 points, or 0.8%,

The major averages managed to wrap up a solid month, although volatility has picked up amid concerns about the economic recovery in the face of the spreading delta variant.

The NASDAQ climbed 1.2%, while the Dow added 1.3% in July, while the broad S&P 500 gained close to 2.3% over the same period.

Utilities, health-care, real estate and technology stocks have led the S&P 500 higher for the month, while energy and financials have lagged.

Amazon sank nearly 7.6% after it reported its first quarterly revenue miss in three years and gave weaker guidance. Pinterest fell even further, down 18.2%, after saying it lost monthly users during the three months ended June 30.

Procter & Gamble shares rose nearly 2% after the consumer giant topped analysts’ estimates for quarterly earnings and revenue. However, the company warned that increasing commodity costs could hit its earnings in the upcoming year.

Shares of online brokerage Robinhood rebounded shy of 1% in volatile trading on Friday after closing its debut session 8% lower.

Investors digested a key inflation indicator that showed better-than-feared price pressures on Friday. The core personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.5% in June year over year. It marked a sharp acceleration in inflation but came in slightly below a Dow Jones expectation of a 3.6% jump.

Weaker-than-expected readings on the U.S. economy further eased concerns about the Federal Reserve dialing back asset purchases.

U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product accelerated 6.5% on an annualized basis, considerably less than the 8.4% Dow Jones estimate.

Meanwhile, the latest weekly jobless claims also came in higher than expected.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday noted that while the economy has come a long way since the COVID-19 recession, it still has a ways to go before the central bank considers adjusting its easy-money policies.

Prices for 10-Year Treasurys jumped, lowering yields to 1.23% from Thursday’s 1.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices added 19 cents to $73.81 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices docked $19.40 to $1,816.40 U.S. an ounce.

S&P Tumbles on Amazon Letdown