TORONTO — Canada's main stock index closed modestly up Tuesday thanks in part to a rise in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
Markets overall saw fairly little movement as investors anticipate a wave of economic data and earnings results this week, said Kevin Headland, co-chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management.
“The markets right now, at the start of the week, are really looking forward to that economic data.”
Coming indicators includes Canadian flash GDP numbers on Wednedsay, which will also see the U.S. Federal Reserve rate decision. Major U.S. tech stocks are also reporting this week, while U.S. job numbers are out Friday.
On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX composite index ended up 27.81 points at 21,227.87.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 133.86 points at 38,467.31. The S&P 500 index was down 2.96 points at 4,924.97, while the Nasdaq composite was down 118.15 points at 15,509.90.
After market close on Tuesday, Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. both reported results that beat analyst expectations, with Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. set to report Thursday.
"When you think about some of the bigger tech names, there is gonna be a lot of the market focusing on that data," said Headland.
Attention will also be keenly focused on any signals coming from the Fed after economic data has surprised to the upside, he said.
"They will be looking for some of the inference, you know, some of the room between the lines in terms of both the press release and the press conference ... so any type of tone shift in narrative. Economic data has been surprisingly strong."
Markets are still anticipating a first rate cut from the Fed in early May. Headland said he's expecting it more in June, but that there's a lot of economic data to come before then.
Last week the Bank of Canada maintained its interest rate at five per cent, but said discussions are shifting to how long the rate will stay there.
Globally, markets are also looking more robust than expected, with the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday upgrading its outlook for the year. The agency now expects global economic growth of 3.1 per cent this year, up from the 2.9 per cent it had guided in October.
Resilient markets have helped push up oil prices this year. On Tuesday, the March crude oil contract was up US$1.04 at US$77.82 per barrel and the March natural gas contract was up two cents at US$2.08 per mmBTU.
Tuesday's rise helping push the TSX energy index up 1.5 per cent.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.53 cents US compared with 74.39 cents on Monday.
The April gold contract was up US$6.30 at US$2,050.90 an ounce and the March copper contract was up three cents at US$3.91 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press
