On Monday, U.S. markets concluded the day with mixed results, while Canada’s major stock index saw losses driven by energy and commodities sectors.
At 19,046.74, the S&P/TSX composite index ended the day down 68.90 points.
The Dow Jones industrial average in New York was at 32,936.41, down 190.87 points. The Nasdaq composite was up 34.52 points at 13,018.33, while the S&P 500 index was down 7.12 points at 4,217.04.
As the day drew on, markets were less buoyant and more turbulent. Before declining, the yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly exceeded five percent once more.
According to Steve Locke, chief investment officer of fixed income and multi-asset strategies at Mackenzie Investments, choppiness of this nature has become nearly normal in the face of persistent market volatility.
The market is still having trouble keeping up with all of the monetary policy tightening that the Bank of Canada, the US Federal Reserve, and other central banks have implemented over the past one to two years, he added.
According to Locke, those repercussions have been felt across the economy, but particularly in Canada, where consumers are more sensitive to interest rates.
“I believe one of the areas of uncertainty is that there is less evidence now in the U.S. market that the Fed’s rate hikes have actually had a discernible impact on consumption.”
This Wednesday, the Bank of Canada is most likely to declare that its benchmark rate will remain unchanged.
Locke declared, “The bank will keep emphasising the need to monitor inflation and wanting to see inflation come down.”
As for the Fed, he added, “they’re probably done too, but it’s still a bit of a knife’s edge as to whether or not they need to hike at least once or twice more.”
On Friday, the value of the Canadian dollar was 73.03 cents US, down from 73.02 cents US on Friday.
Due to ongoing volatility in the crude markets brought on by worries about the possible consequences of the Israel-Hamas war on supplies, the price of oil declined on Monday.
The December natural gas contract increased two cents to US$3.27 per mmBTU, while the December oil price fell US$2.59 to US$85.49 a barrel.
December copper was up two cents at US$3.59 a pound, while December gold was down US$6.60 at US$1,987.80 an ounce.
— Utilising Associated Press files
The Canadian Press originally released this information on October 23, 2023.