Tuesday was a down day for Canada’s main stock index as oil stocks tracked a decline in crude prices due to concerns about COVID-19 restrictions in China, and as looming rate hikes by major central banks fueled fears of a global economic slowdown.
The S&P/TSX recovered from its morning lows, battling to within 28.55 points of parity, to finish Tuesday’s trading session at 18,788.25.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.01 cents to 76.94 U.S. cents.
Bausch Health Companies soared 44 cents, or 4 percent, to $11.35, and Aurora Cannabis climbed five cents, or 3.1 percent, to $1.35.
Alimentation Couche-Tard gained 77 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $52.34 in consumer staples, while Premium Brands Holdings gained $1.04, or 1.1 percent, to $94.
Meg Energy fell 81 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $15.86, whereas Tamarack Valley Energy fell 20 cents, or 5 percent, to $3.50.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 6.48 points, or 1.1%, to close at 599.90.
Eight of the twelve subgroups on the TSX were rising as the noon hour approached, with health-care up 1.9%, consumer staples up 0.6%, and consumer discretionary stocks up 0.5%.
The energy sector weighed the most on the four laggards, falling 3%, while industrials and information technology shares each fell 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Concerns about global economic growth dampened investor appetite for risk assets on Tuesday, and Wall Street anticipated a potentially challenging earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrials increased by 67.53 points, closing at 31,241.37.
The S&P 500 lost 3.07 points, falling to 3,851.36.
The NASDAQ Composite lost 19.9 points, falling to 11,352.70.
Some beaten-down technology stocks rebounded on Tuesday as investors continued to consider growth concerns. Apple increased by 2%, while Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Tesla rose marginally.
Twitter shares, which have been volatile since Elon Musk canceled his agreement to acquire the social media company, increased by 2.6%. Microsoft dropped 2.9%, while Salesforce dropped more than 4%.
Delta, United, and Southwest stocks increased by more than 4 percent, while American Airlines gained 8.4 percent. Norwegian and Carnival cruise stocks increased by approximately 5 percent each. The shares of Peloton increased by 4% after the fitness company announced it would outsource its manufacturing.
Materials and industrials each increased by 1%, while energy declined by 2% as oil prices declined. Halliburton, Devon Energy, and Chevron each declined approximately 2 percent.
PepsiCo kicked off the earnings season for corporations on Tuesday. The snacks and beverage company reported a quarterly profit and revenue that exceeded expectations and raised its annual revenue forecast. Later this week, Delta Air Lines and JPMorgan Chase are among the companies scheduled to report.
Treasury prices rose, reducing yields to 2.92 percent from 2.99 percent on Monday. Yields and Treasury prices move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of crude oil soared from $7.44 to $96.65 US dollars.
The price of gold fell 20 cents to $1,731.50 per ounce.
