TORONTO — Canada's main stock index closed up slightly Friday as oil prices topped US$93 a barrel on tensions in Ukraine, while U.S. stock markets were down sharply over rate hike fears.
The volatile cap to the week came after high U.S. inflation readings increased the likelihood of aggressive central banks action, while concerns about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine helped rattle markets, said Greg Taylor, chief investment officer of Purpose Investments.
"It’s been a volatile week and this still just an extension of the volatile year we’ve had, and this really should be somewhat expected as central banks have made the turn from being super dovish for the last two years, to now being hawkish."
The U.S. inflation reading of 7.5 per cent this week was the highest in 40 years, leading to increased rate hike expectations, which put pressure on especially risk assets in the technology sector, he said.
“Lots of moving parts, it really comes back to the bond yields more than anything else, but in relative terms Canada’s the winner right now because of our exposure to the cyclicals."
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 17.12 points at 21,548.84 as the energy index climbed 3.6 per cent to offset losses in tech, financials and industrials.
Suncor Energy Inc. was up 4.55 per cent and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. was up 2.92 per cent as the March crude contract closed up US$3.22 at US$93.10 per barrel.
Industrials were weighed down as Magna International dropped 6.35 per cent after the parts maker said it continued to feel supply chain constraints and put out a 2023 outlook that was below analyst expectations, while Shopify Inc. was down 4.4 per cent on a broader tech sell-off.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 503.53 points at 34,738.06. The S&P 500 index was down 85.44 points at 4,418.64, while the Nasdaq composite was down 394.49 points at 13,791.15.
The Canadian dollar traded for 78.73 cents US compared with 78.85 cents US on Thursday.
The March natural gas contract was down nearly two cents at US$3.94 per mmBTU.
The April gold contract ended up US$4.70 at US$1,842.10 an ounce and the March copper contract was down 15 cents at US$4.51 a pound.
Statistics Canada is scheduled to release the country's January inflation reading next Wednesday, two weeks before the next Bank of Canada decision that's widely expected to include a rate hike.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)
The Canadian Press
