S&P/TSX composite ends flat on Wednesday, U.S. stock markets lower
BNN Bloomberg
Canada’s benchmark index finished flat on Wednesday, weighed down by declines in technology stocks while U.S. markets fell as investors sifted through economic data.
Shopify Inc. was the largest drag on the S&P/TSX composite index, losing 7.03 per cent on the day. The company reported a fourth-quarter profit of US$743 million, compared with a profit of US$1.29 billion in the last three months of 2024.
“Despite the company beating on revenue lines and announcing actually a buyback of shares … the lower margin forecasts and earnings weakness drove the stock lower," said Kevin Burkett, portfolio manager at Victoria-based Burkett Asset Management.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 2.64 points at 33,254.19.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 66.74 points at 50,121.40. The S&P 500 index was down 0.34 points at 6,941.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 36.01 points at 23,066.47.
U.S. stocks were feeling both the upside and downside Wednesday of a surprisingly strong economic report that said the nation’s unemployment rate improved last month.
Gold prices fell by 1.8 per cent on Friday as the dollar strengthened on a report that the United States will deploy extra troops in the Middle East, fanning concerns of higher oil prices, inflation, and with it, elevated interest rates.
Canada’s federally backed farm lender is offering financial aid to farmers, agricultural businesses and food companies hit by the spike in fertilizer and energy prices, it said on Friday.
Statistics Canada says retail sales were up 1.1 per cent at $70.7 billion in January, led by sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
As Qatar reels from an Iranian attack that has hobbled its giant natural gas company, its boss, who doubles as the country’s energy minister, says he had warned officials and executives of just such a danger should Iran’s own sites be hit.
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Oil prices steadied on Friday on the intensifying Iran war to around US$110 a barrel, while global shares were mixed following Wall Street losses.