The Daily Chase: TSX looks to keep winning streak alive; Cutoff for tax-loss selling
BNN Bloomberg
Trading resumes on the Toronto Stock Exchange this morning, with the composite index entering the day on a four-session winning streak.
Trading resumes on the Toronto Stock Exchange this morning, with the composite index entering the day on a four-session winning streak. That’s the longest stretch of gains since early November, and almost every member of the index has participated: just 14 names are under water over that span. We’ll pay particularly close attention to the energy sector today as West Texas Intermediate crude aims for a sixth straight higher close amid fading fear about Omicron’s dampening effect on demand.
TAX-LOSS SELLING DEADLINE
This is the final day to sell any dogs in your non-registered portfolio in time to reap the benefits for the 2021 tax year. As CIBC’s equity research team recently pointed out in a report to clients, this year’s top contenders for strategic divestment are dominated by names in the mining, clean energy, and cannabis sectors. CIBC also pointed out that, historically, stocks that end up getting ditched for tax-loss purposes often rally on the back of interest from bargain hunters. And indeed, six of this year’s top candidates for tax-loss selling are among the TSX’s top performers since the middle of this month.
A FORGETTABLE YEAR FOR THE DOLLAR
For all the choppiness of 2021, the last 12 months have pretty much been a wash for the loonie. It’s sitting a few basis points shy of where it was trading a year ago (78.01 cents U.S.) – and that’s despite the price of oil being up 56 per cent this year and a domestic central bank that’s been shortening the timeline for liftoff in the new year. The second half of this year has been particularly unkind to the Canadian dollar, as it slumped from a high of 83.28 cents U.S. at the start of June. Really the story here looks less like Canadian dollar weakness and more like strength for the global reserve currency, as the U.S. dollar index has steadily rallied over the last six months.
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES