Global investors gravitated toward safe-haven assets on Friday as worries about the world economy persisted, cutting short a two-day rebound in Wall Street stocks.
U.S. stock indexes seesawed, making it difficult to end one of the most brutal December selloffs in memory on a high note.
“Markets will likely remain treacherous in the New Year,” Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex LLC, told clients.
After flirting with strong gains in the afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 76.42 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 23,062.4, the S&P 500 lost 3.09 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 2,485.74 and the Nasdaq Composite added 5.03 points, or 0.08 per cent, to end at 6,584.52.
MSCI’s index of global equities gained 0.57 per cent to bring the global benchmark to a weekly advance near 2 percent.
Canada’s main stock index rose on Friday, helped by gains in the energy sector, after ending the previous session with its biggest percentage rise in nearly three years.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index was unofficially up 56.79 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 14,222.00, securing its first weekly gain after three consecutive weeks of declines.
Seven of the index’s 11 major sectors were higher, led by a 1.5-per-cent rise in the energy sector. Enbridge Inc. finished up 1.9 per cent, while Suncor Energy Inc. rose 0.7 per cent.
The healthcare sector rose 2.8 per cent as shares of Aphria Inc. jumped 12.6 per cent.
U.S. cannabis retailer Green Growth Brands Ltd said on Thursday it would make a hostile all-stock bid for Aphria in a deal valuing it at $2.8-billion. Aphria said on Friday the bid undervalued the company.
The financials sector gained 0.4 per cent. The industrials sector rose 0.9 per cent.
Materials stocks fell 1.4 per cent.
Leading the index were Maxar Technologies Ltd, up 15.2 per cent and Birchcliff Energy Ltd, up 12.9 per cent.
Lagging shares were Barrick Gold Corp, down 5.6 per cent, First Majestic Silver Corp, down 3.0 per cent, and First Quantum Minerals Ltd, lower by 2.7 per cent.
Markets swung wildly in a week shortened by the Christmas holiday, starting with Wall Street’s worst-ever Christmas Eve drop, pushing the S&P 500 to within a whisker of bear market territory.
But efforts at a late Santa Claus rally failed to salve investors after a year that brought gains for very few categories of financial assets, from stocks to bonds and commodities. The global MSCI index, the S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq are each headed for their worst years since the 2008 financial crisis.
The dollar index dipped 0.14 percent, with the euro up 0.14 per cent to $1.1445 and Japanese yen strengthening 0.75 per cent against the greenback at 110.17 per dollar. The greenback is down 1 per cent this month against a basket of major currencies.
That has boosted gold, a traditional safe haven whose appeal this year was hit by a stronger dollar, which makes the yellow metal more expensive to buyers with other currencies. Gold is perched at six-month highs of $1,280.11 an ounce.
The steady drumbeat of disappointing economic data reinforced caution, including Japan’s slowing industrial output and retail sales, declining German inflation and U.S. data for November showing contracts to buy previously owned homes fell unexpectedly in the latest sign of housing market weakness.
Breaking with the bad news, the Chicago Purchasing Management Index came in ahead of consensus.
Chris Bailey, a strategist at brokerage Raymond James Financial Inc, said dollar weakness was good news for non-U.S. assets.
“If we get the transmission mechanism of a lower dollar, stocks outside the U.S. are set up for a good 2019,” Bailey said. “Once people get their heads around the fact the U.S. is not going to have yet another double-digit return year in 2019, you can look elsewhere.”
That would be a relief to world markets that largely underperformed the United States in 2018.
Bonds have also been helped in recent weeks by risk aversion. U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury notes last rose 8/32 in price to yield 2.7146 per cent, compared with 2.743 percent late on Thursday.
Oil prices lifted a bit off two-year lows after a near 40-per-cent decline this quarter with U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settling up 1.6 per cent to $45.33 per barrel.
The Energy Information Administration reported U.S. crude stocks fell modestly last week.
Reuters