TORONTO — Canada's main stock index rose Wednesday, helped by strength in telecommunication and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets moved lower ahead of Thanksgiving.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 83.16 points at 25,488.30.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 138.25 points at 44,722.06. The S&P 500 index was down 22.89 points at 5,998.74, while the Nasdaq composite was down 115.10 points at 19,060.48.
Investors got several new pieces of data showing the U.S. economy continues to clip along at a healthy pace, said Anish Chopra, managing director with Portfolio Management Corp.
“The U.S. economy is doing quite nicely,” said Chopra, noting the strength comes alongside inflation approaching the U.S. Federal Reserve’s target.
The personal consumption expenditures index, a measure of inflation, accelerated in October to 2.3 per cent but Chopra said it was still more or less in line with Fed expectations.
Meanwhile, the U.S. economy grew by 2.8 per cent annually in the third quarter, driven by healthy consumer spending and exports.
After a strong month of November, investors were likely taking some profit ahead of the Thanksgiving long weekend, said Chopra. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday, and open for half the day Friday.
The tech sector was a drag on the market, with Dell and HP earnings reports missing expectations. Large tech names like Nvidia were down, and the Nasdaq led the major indexes lower.
Nordstrom also saw its stock fall after warning investors of weakening sales.
“There’s some disappointing earnings across a few specific companies,” said Chopra.
“When it’s a bad day in tech, it tends to have an impact on the different indices.”
Overall, the earnings season has been solid, said Chopra, and that’s reflected in the economic data.
“I think what the market is now looking towards is the policies of the incoming government administration,” he said, such as the tariffs promised by president-elect Donald Trump.
Those could be inflationary, said Chopra, which in turn could alter the trajectory of interest rate cuts from the Fed.
The central bank started cutting rates in September, cut a second time in November, and is largely expected to do so again in December.
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.25 cents US compared with 71.01 cents US on Tuesday.
The January crude oil contract was down five cents at US$68.72 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was down 27 cents at US$3.20 per mmBTU.
The February gold contract was up US$18.50 at US$2,664.80 an ounce and the March copper contract was up two cents at US$4.14 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
