Equity markets in Toronto inched up in volatile trading on Monday as energy stocks rallied, while investor concerns about further rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve kept a lid on gains.
The TSX gained 39.91 points by noon hour Monday to 20,236.60.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.11 cents to 73.92 cents U.S.
Teck Resources dropped $1.60, or 2.7%, to move into noon hour at $57.67 after the miner doubled down on its push to reject an unsolicited bid from Glencore and recommended that shareholders vote for its own restructuring plan instead.
Kelt Exploration surged 36 cents, or 7.6%, to $5.08 to a near three-month high after brokerage Scotiabank upgraded the oil explorer to “sector outperform” from “sector perform”.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sagged 3.52 points to 622.33.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday, with health-care stocks haler 2.6%, energy rumbling 1.1%, and consumer discretionary better by 0.7%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, dulling in price 0.8%, while real-estate lost 0.7%, and utilities faded 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell Monday as fears of a recession grew on Wall Street, and investors looked ahead to key inflation data this week.
The Dow Jones Industrials came out of its abyss and pointed upward 4.31 to 33,489.60.
The broader index fell 17.38 points to 4,087.64.
The NASDAQ tumbled 82.35 points to 12,005.60.
Tech stocks struggled, with shares of Apple falling 2.2% and Google-parent Alphabet sliding 2.1%. Tesla shares fell 3.2% after the company said it will cut prices again on some electric vehicles.
They’ll also get the first batch of companies reporting first-quarter financial results. Tilray Brands kicks things off Monday. The major banks – JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup – will report on Friday.
Markets are coming off a choppy week as investors digested signs of a weakening labor market. However, the March jobs report on Friday showed a resilient economy and moderate inflation, which pushed stock futures and Treasury yields higher. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for Good Friday.
Non-farm payrolls grew by 236,000 for the month, about in line with the Dow Jones estimate of 238,000, the Labor Department reported.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, against expectations that it would hold from the previous month at 3.6%.
Investors are in for a busy week of economic data, including the latest consumer price index and producer price index data – due out Wednesday and Thursday, respectively – which will be key in determining if or when the Fed will pause or put an end to its rate hiking campaign.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dipped, lifting yields to 3.42% from Thursday 3.30%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faltered 62 cents to $80.08 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices declined $22.70 to $2,003.70 U.S. an ounce.