Canada’s main stock index fell on Tuesday, weighed by technology and material shares, as investors awaited U.S. inflation data and the European Central Bank meeting to gauge the path of monetary policy.
At 9:46 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 59.31 points, or 0.28%, at 20,759.78.
Technology group fell 1%, as the U.S. tech-heavy Nasdaq index was pressured by U.S. Treasury yields, which hovered near 3-1/2-week highs hit in the previous session.
“I think people are cautious right now. There’s not a lot going on and the U.S. Federal Reserve is on the blackout until they are meeting next week, so there are not a lot of people making bets,” said Gregory Taylor, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments.
This focus of the week is on U.S. consumer inflation data due on Friday.
The Fed is on track to deliver half-a-point interest rate hikes at its June and July policy meetings, and a high inflation reading would add to expectations of aggressive tightening even in the second half of the year.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.3% weighed by weaker copper prices.
In a bright spot, the heavyweight energy sector inched up 0.1% on stable oil prices as the market balanced risk sentiment with supply concerns and the prospect of higher demand as China relaxes its COVID curbs.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Cronos Group Inc, which jumped 4.5%, and Arc Resources, which rose 2.8%.
Aritzia Inc fell 3.7%, the most on the TSX, and the second-biggest decliner was NFI Group Inc, down 3.6%.
Comments
Comments are closed.