S&P/TSX composite ends higher, U.S. markets recover from earlier losses

Canada’s main stock index ended more than 200 points higher while U.S. markets recovered from earlier losses as oil prices retreated.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 247.67 points at 34,409.49 on broad-based gains.

Markets in Canada leveraged the energy tailwind, said Ryan Crowther, portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton’s ClearBridge Investments. 

“You’ve got those sort of cross-currents where you have energy (being) good for Canada, but then bad for the broader market,” he said.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 276.31 points at 50,285.66. The S&P 500 index was up 12.75 points at 7,445.72, while the Nasdaq composite was up 22.74 points at 26,293.10.

“We opened with the narrative revolving around the U.S.-Iran tensions, oil was higher — that commanded the narrative for the first part of the day,” Crowther said.

The fear of rising inflation has also moved into the narrative of market moves lately, “the driving force why you had the broader markets down,” he said. But U.S. markets gained ground in the second half of the day as oil prices gave back amid signs of a diplomatic off-ramp from the Middle East crisis.

The general expectations in the market were that the conflict in the Middle East would have been resolved by now, Crowther said. 

“It’s been probably protracted compared to what most investors would have been expecting,” he said. “Now, I think investors are sort of digesting the idea that you might have oil prices elevated for longer.”

But he said it favours Canadian commodity producers to cash in higher profits. 

Oil prices have been fluctuating amid the ongoing uncertainty about how long the war will keep the Strait of Hormuz shut. The closure has prevented oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf to deliver crude to customers worldwide, driving up oil prices.

The July crude oil contract settled down US$1.91 at US$96.35 per barrel. That drop came after oil prices topped US$100 earlier in the day.

A second layer of investor anxiety is coming from companies that are heavily investing in AI tech, Crowther said. 

While Nvidia reported stronger profit and revenue for its latest quarter than analysts expected, investors didn’t seem so pleased. The broad AI industry is also getting criticism for becoming too expensive, as well as too circular, as Nvidia has bought ownership stakes in companies that use its own chips that drive Nvidia’s revenue.

While Canada doesn’t have larger AI players such as Nvidia, Crowther said some companies are under investor scrutiny about whether their business models would get disrupted by AI. 

“That’s weighing on some of the share prices of the Canadian group of tech companies, which is different than what you’d see down in the U.S. market,” he said. 

For instance, he said, investors are questioning Shopify’s shift to AI and whether that’s going to be a tailwind for the company or create new challenges.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.55 cents US compared with 72.72 cents US on Wednesday.

The June gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$4,542.50 an ounce.

With files from The Associated Press.