Baystreet.ca - Stock readings in Canada edged higher on Monday, led by gains in materials stocks and ahead of a slew of economic data and the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision later in the week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index sank 73.19 points to open Monday at 22,195.93. The Canadian dollar dropped 0.09 cents at 73.33 cents U.S. The main event for the week would be the BoC's rate decision on Wednesday. The central bank is expected to trim interest rates to 4.75%, according to three-quarters of economists in a Reuters poll that showed three further cuts this year, with the last one hanging on a knife's edge.
In individual stocks, RBC (TSX:RY) cut the rating of Canada Western Bank to 'sector perform' from 'outperform', while National Bank of Canada (TSX:NA) made a similar rating change on Enerflex Ltd.
Shares in Western Bank fell 16 cents to $25.17, while those for Enerflex subsided 35 cents, or 4.9%, to $6.73. On the economic ledger, the Markit Canada Manufacturing PMI for May decreased to 49.30 points in May from 49.40 points in April. Manufacturing PMI in Canada averaged 52.42 points from 2011 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 58.90 points in March of 2022 and a record low of 33 points in April of 2020.
ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.1 points to 610.77. Eight of the 12 subgroups were in minus range, weighed most by energy, down 1.6%, consumer discretionary, sinking 0.6%, and health-care, off 0.03%. The four gainers were led by communications and real-estate, each up 0.4%, and utilities, inching up 0.2%. ON WALLSTREET The S&P 500 rose on Monday as investors tried to carry the market’s strong May momentum into the new month.The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 37.94 points to 38,648.38.
The much-broader index gained 12.7 points to 5,290.21.The NASDAQ jumped 110.48 points to 16,845.49. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) ticked more than 3% higher after announcing a new suite of artificial intelligence chips, succeeding the previous model by just three months. Elsewhere, The U.S. manufacturing sector showed signs of shrinkage last month, with the ISM manufacturing index measuring 48.7 in May, which sent yields lower. A reading below 50 is an indication of a contraction.
The first week of June is brimming with further economic updates. Investors also await private payroll data on Thursday from ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) followed by a key jobs report on Friday.Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 4.43% from Friday’s 4.50%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Oil prices shed $1.71 to $75.28 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices docked $15.00 to $2,360.80.