Canada’s main stock index closed flat on Friday as investors keenly watched a high-stakes meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on a potential path to ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump and Putin met face-to-face in Alaska on Friday afternoon. Markets are hoping the meeting could pave the way for a resolution to the Ukraine conflict and determine the outlook for crude prices.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 10.50 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 27,905.49. The index gained 0.5 per cent in the week.
Among TSX sub-indexes, healthcare rose 4 per cent, boosted by an 11 per cent jump in Bausch Health Companies.
Materials rose 0.8 per cent, while energy stocks fell 0.2 per cent.
“Short-term investors are hoping at least the meeting brings some kind of ceasefire or at least has continuous talks as we’re moving towards the end of the summer,” said Michael Constantino, CEO at Webull Canada.
Meanwhile, Air Canada’s unionized flight attendants threatened to go on strike just before 1:00 a.m. ET on Saturday with the country’s largest air carrier warning it would cancel 500 flights by the end of the day. Its shares were up about 0.6 per cent.
Data on Friday showed Canadian factory sales grew 0.3 per cent in June from May, led by petroleum, coal and food products, while wholesale trade rose 0.7 per cent on gains in food, beverage and tobacco.
South of the border, retail sales rose by an expected 0.5 per cent in July, but a spike in import prices raised concerns that U.S. tariffs could fuel inflation in the months ahead.
The blue-chip Dow Jones ended higher after hitting an intraday record high on Friday, as UnitedHealth’s shares jumped after Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake, but other Wall Street indexes slipped as mixed data clouded the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy move.
A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was also on the radar, with markets hoping it could pave the way for a resolution to the Ukraine conflict and determine the outlook for crude prices. The two leaders began a meeting in Alaska on Friday afternoon.
UnitedHealth Group rose sharply after Warren Buffett’s company revealed a new investment in the health insurer, while Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management also turned more bullish on the company.
Rising costs in the broader healthcare sector and about a 40 per cent slump in UnitedHealth’s shares this year have left the Dow lagging its Wall Street peers on the road to record highs. The price-weighted index last scaled an all-time high on December 4.
The healthcare sector .SPXHC gained on Friday, tracking its best weekly performance since October 2022.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 18.86 points, or 0.29 per cent, to end at 6,449.68 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 83.99 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 21,626.68. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43.83 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 44,955.09.
More broadly, Wall Street’s main stock indexes recorded their second week of gains, buoyed by expectations that the Fed could restart its monetary policy easing cycle with a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in September.
The central bank last lowered borrowing costs in December and said U.S. tariffs could add to price pressures. However, recent labor market weakness and signs that tariff-induced inflation was yet to reflect in headline consumer prices have made investors confident of a potential dovish move next month.
“The question is, has the tariff gotten into the price of goods yet? And it appears that there hasn’t,” said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading.
Saluzzi also said while markets have largely priced in a September rate cut, investors might be overlooking risks, with low volatility and rich valuations pointing to a sense of complacency.
In a mixed day for economic data, a report showed retail sales in July rose as expected, but consumer confidence and factory production numbers indicated tariffs were taking a toll on other pockets of the economy.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee was also cautionary in his remarks.
Trump has said he will unveil tariffs on steel and semiconductors next week.
Among other stocks that were on the move, Applied Materials tumbled after the chip equipment maker issued weak fourth-quarter forecasts.
Shares of Bank of America dropped after Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake in the second-biggest U.S. lender by 4.2 per cent to 605.3 million shares. It still owns about an 8 per cent stake in BofA.
Intel surged after a report said the Trump administration was in talks for the U.S. government to potentially take a stake in the chipmaker.
Reuters