Toronto shares remained in the red by noon hour EDT Monday, as a decline in commodity prices after weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data dragged materials and energy stocks down.
The TSX dipped 35.27 points to pause for lunch hour Monday at 20,226.80.
The Canadian dollar inched forward 0.03 cents to 75.93 cents U.S.
Shares of Constellation Software rose $6.96 to $2,705.00 after the company said it would buy mortgage data vendor Black Knight’s Optimal Blue business for $700 million.
Economically speaking, new motor vehicle sales topped 165,500 in May, compared to 148,800 in the prior-year month.
As well, foreign investment in Canadian securities totaled $11.2 billion in May, led by strong foreign purchases of federal government debt securities. Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $2.8 billion, led by sales of U.S. government debt securities.
Wholesale trade, also for May, grew 3.5%, compared to a loss of 1.4% for May 2022.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 2.91 points to 626.05.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower first thing Monday, with utilities subsiding 0.8%, while communications lost 0.4%, and industrials surrendered 0.3%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, springing 3.4%, information technology, ahead 0.2%, and real-estate, inching up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were higher Monday as Wall Street braced for quarterly reports from some of the biggest companies in the world.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 77.57 points to reach noon Monday at 34,568.60.
The S&P 500 surged 13.15 points to 4,518.57.
The NASDAQ index leaped 87.46 points to 14,201.17.
The second-quarter earnings season gains steam this week with results from big financial institutions such as Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Results are also due from United Airlines, Las Vegas Sands and technology giants Tesla and Netflix.
Shares of tech-giant Apple added 1.1%, while Tesla climbed roughly 3%. Shares of JPMorgan Chase ticked up 1.8%.
The moves came on the heels of solid big bank earnings and softer inflation reports that lifted investor sentiment. That heightened some hopes the Federal Reserve may be able to tamp down inflation without tipping the economy into a recession.
Wall Street is bracing for what be a gloomy season with lower profits. Analysts forecast a more than 7% decline in S&P 500 earnings from a year ago, according to FactSet.
This week also ushers in the Fed’s “blackout period” ahead of its July policy meeting. Traders anticipate a near 97% chance the central bank increases interest rates later this month, after pausing hikes in June.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were stationary, keeping yields at Friday’s 3.82%.
Oil prices gave back 65 cents to $74.77 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $8.30 to $1,956.10 U.S. an ounce.