TSX Tails off Midday
The TSX Composite faltered by noon EST, losing 7.64 points to 20,898.88.
The Canadian dollar was lower 0.11 at 74.33 cents U.S.
On the corporate side, shares of steel products producer Algoma Steel Group slid 4.2% to hit a near six-week low.
Investors look forward to the much-awaited Bank of Canada monetary policy meeting, due Wednesday, for the central bank's direction on interest rate cuts.
The BoC is expected to leave its key overnight rate unchanged this time, but stubborn inflation has delayed the timeline for the first rate cut in almost four years.
Money market participants are now pricing in just over 22% chances of a cut in borrowing costs in March, while a majority of over 56% are expecting a cut in April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked ahead 0.1 points noon hour Monday to 552.43.
Eight of the 12 subgroups were lower, with materials and utilities each down 0.4%, while communications slid 0.3%.
The four gainers were led by information technology, up 0.7%, consumer discretionary stocks, ahead 0.4%, and real-estate, edging up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Monday as investors built on the previous session’s historic move to record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 127.69 points to 37,991.49.
The S&P 500 index hiked 13.64 points to 4,843.45, reaching a fresh all-time high.
The NASDAQ rose 58.37 points to 15,397.34.
Macy’s rose more than 1% after rejecting a $5.8-billion proposal to take the retailer private. SolarEdge jumped more than 2% on the back of the company announcing it would lay off 16% of its workforce.
Archer-Daniels-Midland dropped more than 22% after issuing weak earnings guidance and placing CFO Vikram Luthar on leave amid an investigation tied to accounting practices. B Riley Financial slipped nearly 6% after Bloomberg reported that regulators are investigating deals with a client connected to securities fraud.
Traders are now pricing in a roughly 46% chance of a Fed rate cut in March. That marks a steep decrease from almost 81% a week earlier. There’s a nearly 54% likelihood that the central bank will keep rates steady, up from around 19% one week prior.
Investors will be closely watching a slate of economic reports due out this week, including gross domestic product data on Thursday and the personal consumption expenditures prices on Friday. Both reports could provide insight into how central bank policymakers view monetary policy moving forward.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 4.09% from Friday’s 4.13%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.52 to $74.83 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skidded $4.40 to $2,024.90.
Provided Content: Content provided by Baystreet. The Globe and Mail was not involved, and material was not reviewed prior to publication.
