Equities in Toronto made small gains on Monday as a surge in oil stocks was offset by losses in most other sectors, with investors bracing for another large interest rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve this week.
The TSX restocked 61.04 points to begin Monday and the week at 19,043.96.
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.48 cents to 77.84 cents U.S.
Rogers Communications said on Sunday it would invest $10 billion over the next three years in Artificial Intelligence, and more testing and oversight, just weeks after the company reported network issues that caused widespread disruptions across the country.
Meantime, JP Morgan cut the target price on Rogers’ shares to $80.00 from $90.00.
Canada’s antitrust agency said on Friday it needed more time to investigate the concession offered by Rogers to allay competition concerns over its proposed $20-billion takeover of Shaw Communications, a move Rogers swiftly opposed.
Rogers shares began Monday up 31 cents to $60.70, while those for Shaw retreated 30 cents to $34.50.
Scotiabank cuts price target on Toromont Industries to $120.00 from $126.00. Toromont shares stepped back 88 cents to $105.40.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.9 points to 607.07.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, with energy surging 2.3%, while financials increased 0.4%, and communications improved 0.2%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, down 3.6%, information technology, off 1%, and health-care, fading 0.9%.
IT’S WALLSTREET
U.S. equities wavered on Monday, coming off a positive week for the major averages as traders braced for the busiest week of corporate earnings, as well as insights into further interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials acquired 76.55 points to commence trading Monday at 31,975.84.
The S&P 500 faded 1.54 points to 3,960.09.
The NASDAQ dipped 73.09 points, to 11,761.02.
All three of the indexes are on track for their best month of the year.
Monday starts the final week of trading for the month of July — and perhaps the most important week of the summer — with the Fed meeting, GDP data and earnings from almost a third of the S&P 500 on deck.
Investors are still worried about the potential of an economic recession and are hoping this week’s news storm will help direct their expectations.
Shares of Newmont Corporation slid 6.7% after the mining company reported a quarterly loss that was down nearly 41% from a year ago, hurt by a drop in gold prices.
Philips tumbled 9% after the Dutch medical equipment maker reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings, citing lockdowns in China and supply chain issues.
Treasury prices fell, raising yields to 2.81%, from Friday’s 2.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $1.17 to $95.87 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $11.10 to $1,715.30 U.S. an ounce.