By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com – At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was at 21,932.18 points or down 0.64% today.
Canada’s benchmark index tracked U.S. and global stocks lower as:
A continued surge in energy prices added to inflation worries
The prospect of a timely and peaceful resolution between Russia and Ukraine progressively recedes
An increasingly confrontational tone from Putin around Russian Energy, a key bargaining chip the Kremlin holds against the West and its sanctions. Putin is now demanding that payments for Russian gas are settled in the Ruble.
Markets appear to more carefully be pricing in the true likelihood of the Fed actually enacting the aggressive monetary policy Jerome Powell more than hinted at earlier this week
In New York, the S&P 500 fell 1.26%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.29%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 1.32% as inflation concerns drove treasury yields higher, safe haven metals up, and growth stocks down.
The TSX: Today’s Key Sectors
Energy and Global mining, towards which the sector is heavily weighted, were among the few sectors in the green today on Canada’s benchmark Index today.
The Canadian Energy Index was up 1.90% today after gains in crude, with Brent at $121.5 a barrel, up 5.21% at time of writing WTI futures were at $114.58 a barrel, up 4.86%. Crude continues its rally since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, exacerbated today by disruptions to the key Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) infrastructure, which supplies oil between Russia and Kazakhstan. The drop from the disruption is anticipated at 1 million barrels per day (bpd), equivalent to 1% of global oil production. Repairs will reportedly take over a month to complete.
The Global mining Index, Canada's benchmark for metals and mining, was 1.80% higher as prices for silver (+1.70) and gold (+1.32%) rose with investors seeking a hedge against inflation, as well as economic and political uncertainty. Nickel (+14.97%) helped metals higher in another day of volatile trading. Copper, a benchmark of global economic sentiment due to its widespread application across industries, was up 1.59% so far today.
Today’s TSX Market Movers
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Boyd Group Income Fund (TSX:BYD), which rose 12.47% or 18.41 points to trade at 166.01 at the close. Badger Infrastructure Solutions Ltd (TSX:BDGI) added 4.74% or 1.32 points to end at 29.18 and Brookfield Business Partners LP (TSX:BBU_u) was up 4.64% or 1.62 points to 36.50 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nuvei Corp (TSX:NVEI), which lost 5.73% or 5.39 points to trade at 88.64 in late trade. Converge Technology Solutions Corp (TSX:CTS) declined 3.85% or 0.41 points to end at 10.25 and Lightspeed Commerce Inc (TSX:LSPD) shed 3.71% or 1.48 points to 38.38.
In Bonds and Currencies
Both U.S. and Canadian treasury yields fell as investors bought up safe-haven bonds.
Yields on Canada’s 5 year and benchmark 10 year bonds were lower at 2.207% and 2.33%, respectively.
Yields on U.S 10 year treasures were 3.51% lower today at 2.293%.
The USD/CAD pair was 0.04% lower today at C$1.256 to the greenback as Canada’s commodity currency strengthened against the greenback based on the surge in crude.