TORONTO 鈥� sa国际传媒's main stock index posted anemic gains Wednesday as a rise in battery metals, industrials and health care balanced out weakness in technology stocks, while U.S. markets were mixed after another central bank rate hike.聽
The Federal Reserve hiked its key interest rate for an 11th time by a quarter of a percentage point Wednesday, echoing the Bank of sa国际传媒鈥檚 move earlier in July as central banks continue their fight against inflation.聽
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 10.11 points at 20,561.64.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 82.05 points at 35,520.12. The S&P 500 index was down 0.71 points at 4,566.75,while the Nasdaq composite was down 17.27 points at 14,127.28.
The hike wasn鈥檛 a surprise to the market, which hasn鈥檛 reacted significantly to it or to remarks made by officials after the announcement, said Ryan Crowther, vice-president and portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton sa国际传媒.
The Fed acknowledged some progress in labour markets and wage growth, and is not signalling another rate hike at this time, said Crowther.
鈥淏ut the door is still very much open for a further hike in September or later this year,鈥� he said.聽
鈥淎t this point, it鈥檚 clear that monetary policy change, even when it鈥檚 applied sharply over a short time, it takes longer than many people would think to produce the outcomes that they鈥檙e looking for. So I think they鈥檙e ... still waiting, and going to be watching.鈥澛�
Earnings for the second quarter continued to roll in, with some weakness in industrials and strong reports in big tech names, said Crowther. Expectations have been low for earnings broadly speaking, but much higher for the large tech stocks that have fuelled the market鈥檚 rally so far this year, he said.聽
鈥淏etween Microsoft and Alphabet, that鈥檚 four trillion of market cap with stocks pulling in opposite directions,鈥� said Crowther.
Both companies reported 鈥減retty impressive results overall鈥� yesterday, Crowther said, but Alphabet鈥檚 stock rose almost six per cent Wednesday while Microsoft shares were down almost four per cent.
More big names are expected to report this week, while sa国际传媒 is also getting its earnings season underway.聽
Loblaw, Rogers and Crescent Point Energy were among the Canadian companies reporting Wednesday.聽
The Canadian dollar traded for 75.64 cents UScompared with 75.85 cents US on Tuesday.
The September crude oil contract was down 85 cents at US$78.78 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.69 per mmBTU.
The August gold contract was up US$6.40 at US$1,970.10 an ounceand the September copper contract was down a penny at US$3.90 a pound.
鈥� With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
