Financials and energy sectors dragged down Canada’s main stock index Wednesday, while the loonie shone as investors took solace in a slightly more upbeat tone from the latest Bank of Canada decision.
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 57.45 points to 15,419.49, as the Bank of Montreal kicked off a busy earnings week as the first of the big six Canadian banks to report its quarterly results.
BMO said higher profits from its wealth management and capital markets divisions helped it grow its second-quarter net income by 28% to $1.25 billion.
Analysts noted that the results were generally in line with expectations, but that BMO’s personal and commercial banking segments in Canada and the U.S. are not showing strong earnings growth.
Its shares lost more than 3%, or $3.15, to $91.98. The weak results also seemed to spill over to the rest of the financials sector, which fell 0.83% on the TSX.
In currency markets, the loonie gained 0.16 of a U.S. cent at an average price of US74.29¢ amid an announcement that the central bank was holding its key interest rate steady at 0.5%.
The bank said there was strong economic growth in the first quarter, but noted there’s still uncertainty moving forward.
The tone was more optimistic than its last rate announcement in April, and caught analysts by surprise, said Candice Bangsund, a portfolio manager at Fiera Capital.
“All in all it was encouraging to see that they acknowledged some of that recent economic strength,” she said from Montreal. “Because they’ve largely been looking through it until now.”
Bangsund said the bank seems to have reversed their position on the possibility of cutting rates.
“I think they’re starting to prepare the market for an inevitable rate hike likely in the next year,” she said, especially if the U.S. Federal Reserve continues with their planned rate increases south of the border.
“The Bank of Canada is going to be forced to catch up because they don’t want to fall behind the curve, particularly if inflation pressures see a revival.”
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 74.51 points to 21,012.42, while the Nasdaq composite index was up 24.31 points to 6,163.02. The S&P 500 index added 5.97 points to 2,404.39 to finish at a new record.
On the commodities front, the July crude contract was down US11¢ at US$51.36 per barrel as the market awaited a critical OPEC meeting Thursday.
It’s expected the 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other non-member producers, notably Russia, will agree to extend last year’s production cut in a concerted attempt to prevent oil prices from falling.
Last November, OPEC agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day, while non-OPEC countries chipped in with their own 600,000 pbd reduction. That deal, which has helped shore up oil prices, is due to expire at the end of June.
In other commodities, the July natural gas contract pulled back a penny at US$3.30 per mmBTU, the June gold contract fell US$2.40 to US$1,253.10 an ounce, and the July copper contract dipped a cent to US$2.58 a pound.
With files from The Associated Press