S&P/TSX composite lower Monday on energy, telecoms; U.S. markets rise

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 35.28 points at 20,226.79.

Weakness in energy and telecoms helped Canada’s main stock index tick lower after a mixed day of trading Monday, while U.S. markets rose as earnings season rolled forward.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 35.28 points at 20,226.79.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 76.32 points at 34,585.35. The S&P 500 index was up 17.37 points at 4,522.79, while the Nasdaq composite was up 131.25 points at 14,244.95.

South of the border, “Everybody’s warming up for earnings season,” said Pierre-Benoit Gauthier, assistant vice-president of investment strategy at IG Wealth Management.

U.S. earnings for the second quarter were off to a positive start Friday as major banks stepped over the low expectations set by investors and analysts, said Gauthier.

“I think that people are seeing that expectations have been so low for the Q2 numbers, that there’s going to be some easy beats in there because the U.S. economy is just not as bad as feared,” he said.

That optimism is helping buoy U.S. stocks despite continued worries about China’s economic growth _ or lack thereof, said Gauthier.

China’s economic growth missed estimates in the second quarter of 2023, growing at an annual pace of 6.3 per cent, when analysts had forecast seven per cent. Unemployment among youth also rose to a record 21.3 per cent in June.