TORONTO - Canada's main stock index posted a small gain Thursday despite weakness in energy stocks, while U.S. markets ended the day mixed.
After a weak start to the year with some of 2023鈥檚 winners leading the way down, Thursday saw markets start to stabilize, said Greg Taylor, chief investment officer at Purpose Investments.
鈥淭his feels more like a throwaway day, trying to stabilize from the initial weakness we had to start the week,鈥 he said.
This wasn鈥檛 a surprise after the nine-week winning streak on Wall St. that ended the year, said Taylor.
鈥淲e ended the year with a really strong stretch,鈥 he said, as markets started to get more comfortable with the idea that a soft landing for the economy was within reach.
鈥淚 think we ended on a high note, and that鈥檚 usually a dangerous set up for the first part of January.鈥
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 52.77 points at 20,871.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 10.15 points at 37,440.34. The S&P 500 index was down 16.13 points at 4,688.68, while the Nasdaq composite was down 81.91 points at 14,510.30.
This week, bond yields have started to rise, said Taylor, pushing back somewhat on the narrative around interest rate cuts. Market calls for the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower its key rate in March have begun to ease since last year, he noted 鈥 鈥渨hich is probably healthy.鈥
鈥淲e got probably a little ahead of ourselves pricing rate cuts,鈥 he said.
The Fed has indicated it expects to start cutting rates at some point this year as inflation continues to moderate.
Friday will see fresh payroll data on both sides of the border, and then U.S. earnings season begins next week, said Taylor.
Heading into 2024, the 好色tv economy continues to be weaker than the U.S. economy, which will be 鈥渟omething to watch,鈥 noted Taylor.
He thinks as the year progresses, investors may finally be able to focus less on monetary policy and the macro environment, and more on companies and earnings.
鈥淚 think the goal for everyone this year is to get away from focusing on central banks,鈥 said Taylor.
The 好色tv dollar traded for 74.88 cents US compared with 74.87 cents US on Wednesday.
The February crude contract was down 51 cents at US$72.19 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was up 15 cents at US$2.82 per mmBTU.
The February gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,050.00 an ounceand the March copper contract was down two cents at US$3.84 a pound.
鈥 With files from The Associated Press
This report by 好色tvwas first published Jan. 4, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
