TORONTO 鈥� sa国际传媒's main stock index was up at the close Friday with mixed results across sectors, while U.S. markets were also mixed with an early close.聽
With the New York Stock Exchange closing early mid-afternoon Friday, it鈥檚 a slow day for markets on both sides of the border, said John Zechner, chairman and lead equity manager at J Zechner Associates.聽
While markets are in a quiet period around Thanksgiving, Zechner said this is historically a strong time of year.
鈥淪easonally, you鈥檙e in the strongest period of the year. So that鈥檚 been a tailwind for the markets lately,鈥� he said.聽
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 39.70 points at 20,383.77, down from mid-morning highs above 100 points.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 152.97 points at 34,347.03. The S&P 500 index was down 1.14 points at 4,026.12, while the Nasdaq composite was down 58.96 points at 11,226.36.
There鈥檚 a lot riding on Black Friday for many retailers, said Zechner 鈥� earnings season has been mixed for the major sellers with discount retailers doing better than higher-end stores.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a little bit eye-opening,鈥� he said. 鈥淥bviously what鈥檚 happening in this environment is people are shifting down a little bit ... they鈥檙e going to the discount retailers, they鈥檙e not going high-end.鈥�
The reality is that economic growth is slowing as interest rates rise, said Zechner, even if economic data is a little bit behind on showing that.聽
鈥淧eople are sticking a little bit more to necessities and you see that in the stock market too.鈥澛�
Zechner said he is anticipating bank earnings in sa国际传媒 next week to give a better sense of how the consumer has been faring.聽
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.76 cents UScompared with 74.97 cents US on Thursday.聽
Oil was down with increased attention on COVID-19 cases in China, said Zechner, leading to concerns about global oil demand. But slightly slower volumes on the TSX meant that Canadian markets weren鈥檛 down the way they might be normally with a dip in oil prices, he said.
鈥淲ith all (that鈥檚) going on in the energy market, there鈥檚 so many balls up in the air, but one of the biggest is obviously the demand from China,鈥� he said.
The January crude contract was down US$1.66 at US$76.28 per barreland the January natural gas contract was down 38 cents at US$7.33 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$8.40 at US$1,754.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was up just less than a penny at US$3.63 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
