Canada’s main stock index climbed to a three-month high on Wednesday, but the move was modest as momentum from recent cooling of trade tensions faded and economic uncertainty persisted.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended up 75.59 points, or 0.3%, at 25,692.45, its highest closing level since February 13. It was the seventh-straight day of gains for the index, which is the longest daily winning streak since January.
The S&P 500 flitted between gains and losses before closing slightly higher. A smaller-than-expected rise in U.S. consumer prices last month and a truce in the U.S.-China trade war have boosted investor sentiment in recent days.
“I think all the markets are taking a little bit of a breather now after the recent rallies,” said Michael Sprung, president at Sprung Investment Management. “The inflation reading and the U.S.-China situation buoyed the market in the immediate past but ... expectations of what is likely to happen are becoming more and more uncertain.”
The TSX industrials sector rose 1.5% as railroad shares notched gains. Shares of e-commerce company Shopify Inc added 3.8%, which helped lift the technology sector by 1.3%.
The materials sector, which includes metal mining shares, was a drag, falling 1.8%, as gold and copper prices fell.
The price of oil was also down, settling 0.8% lower at US$63.15 a barrel, after data showed U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week. Energy lost 0.8%.
Investors were watching out for more trade developments while U.S. President Donald Trump toured the Gulf states and secured US$600 billion in commitments from Saudi Arabia. Some U.S. tech companies rallied after the administration announced artificial-intelligence-related deals in the Middle East on Tuesday.
U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Wednesday that while recent inflation data pointed to progress towards the Fed’s 2% inflation goal, the outlook was now uncertain. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said the data did not necessarily reflect the impact of rising tariffs.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is slated to speak on Thursday, and his comments will be closely watched for clues on how the central bank plans to proceed with monetary policy easing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 89.37 points, or 0.21%, to 42,051.06 and its biggest losers were drug companies Merck & Co, down 4%, and Amgen, which finished down 3%.
The S&P 500 gained 6.03 points, or 0.10%, to 5,892.58. This added slightly to its year-to-date gain after closing higher for the year on Tuesday for the first time since February 28. The benchmark is still about 4% below its Feb. 19 record closing high, for its sixth straight day of gains.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 136.72 points, or 0.72%, to 19,146.81.
Eight of the S&P 500’s 11 major industry sectors closed lower with Healthcare, down 2.31%, and materials , down 0.96%, the weakest of the bunch.
The biggest gainers were communications services, up 1.6%, and technology, which added about 0.96%.
With Wednesday being a relatively quiet day for economic data, Andrew Graham, managing partner and founder of Jackson Square Capital, said investors were holding steady before April’s Producer Price Index (PPI) and retail sales readings due on Thursday morning.
“People are looking for any sort of evidence that the tariff situation has leaked into the real economy,” said Graham, but with 90-day pauses to tariff policies in place, he said he is less concerned about April’s data readings.
Megacap and growth stocks rose, with Nvidia the biggest S&P 500 boost, rising more than 4%. Chip designer Advanced Micro Devices shares rose 4.7% after it approved a $6 billion share buyback program.
Boeing shares rose 0.6% after state carrier Qatar Airways signed a deal to purchase jets from the U.S. planemaker during Trump’s visit to Doha.
In individual stocks, American Eagle Outfitters shares sank 6.4% after the apparel company withdrew its annual forecasts, citing tariff-fueled economic uncertainty.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.97-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 132 new highs and 68 new lows.
On the Nasdaq, 1,612 stocks rose and 2,807 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.74-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 3 new 52-week highs and 9 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 104 new lows.
On U.S. exchanges 19.73 billion shares changed hands compared with the 16.77 billion average for the last 20 sessions.
Reuters, Globe staff