Gains in technology and energy shares pulled Canada’s main stock index higher on Monday, as investors closely tracked the Russia-Ukraine crisis and awaited the release of Bank of Canada surveys that could offer clues on the inflation outlook.
At 10:12 a.m. ET (14:12 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 68.39 points, or 0.31%, at 22,021.34.
The Bank of Canada (BoC) will release its quarterly Business Outlook Survey as well as the Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations, which measures household views of inflation, the labor market and household finances, at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT).
With inflation at a 30-year high, money markets see a 70% chance that BoC will hike interest rates by half a percentage point in a policy announcement next week.
“Things are going to be tepid for a while until you can get a handle on where the upper ceiling on interest rate moves is.
Let’s face it, interest rates are responsible for all asset level everywhere whether it’s real estate, gold, stocks,“ said Matt Skipp, president of SW8 Asset Management.
“Canada maybe in a sweet spot because it’s material sectors seem to benefit from inflationary pressures, assuming the inflationary pressures are caused by higher material prices.”
The energy sector climbed 0.6% tracking crude prices which jumped over 3%, while the financial sector gained 0.5%.
The information technology sector rose 2.2%, while consumer staple stocks rose, helping offsetting some of the losses from the materials and utilities sectors on the index.
Highlights
On the TSX, 115 issues were higher, while 122 issues declined for a 1.06-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 41.50 million shares traded.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Ballard Power , which jumped 5.3% after Citigroup raised its price target on the stock and Lightspeed Commerce Inc, which rose 5.1%.
Innergex Renewable Energy fell 4.2%, the most on the TSX, after TD Securities downgraded the stock to “hold”. The second biggest decliner was Tilray Inc, down 3.3%.
The TSX posted nine new 52-week highs and one new low.
Across all Canadian issues there were 32 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows, with total volume of 76.87 million shares.
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