TORONTO 鈥� Canada's main stock index barely slipped Monday, while markets in the U.S., especially the Nasdaq, were down more as tech stocks fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 3.78 points at 19,977.13.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 45.41 points at 33,700.28.The S&P 500 index was down 15.40 points at 3,949.94,while the Nasdaq composite was down 121.55 points at 11,024.51, pulled down by losses at the likes of Apple, Alphabet Inc., Tesla Inc. and Meta.
This is a historically quiet time for the markets, said Angelo Kourkafas, an investment strategist at Edward Jones, noting that markets in the U.S. are closed Thursday because of Thanksgiving. Investors are in a 鈥渞isk-off鈥� mood, he said.
Kourkafas said after market rallies earlier in the month, he expects markets to continue in a holding pattern for the next week or so.
鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 be surprising to see stocks consolidate or stay range-bound in the absence of any major headlines,鈥� he said.
Both the U.S. and Canada will have one more inflation data release before the end of the year, and one more central bank announcement on interest rates, noted Kourkafas. Both banks are expected to raise rates again, but to show signs of slowing their tightening campaigns.
However, Kourkafas said with increasing chances that the terminal rates will be a little higher than previously expected, markets are already pricing in higher terminal rates, which he said is good news.
鈥淧olicymakers are trying to convey the message that we are considering a slowdown, but there鈥檚 more work to do.鈥�
The Fed鈥檚 December meeting is going to be the 鈥渓ast major catalyst鈥� for markets in 2022, said Kourkafas.
鈥淏ecause really, throughout the year, it all has been about how far central banks will tighten,鈥� he said, noting that while inflation has shown signs of moderating, investors are still looking for more evidence that moderation will continue.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.34 cents US, compared with 74.71 cents US on Friday.
Oil prices recovered in the afternoon from their mid-morning drop of almost five dollars a barrel, but were still slightly down.
The January crude oil contract was down seven cents at US$80.04 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was up 47 cents at US$6.78 per mmBTU.
Recent headlines about China鈥檚 COVID policies have sparked concerns about global demand for oil, said Kourkafas.
鈥淐hina is a big commodity consumer, and as a result, because of the negative headlines, we have seen oil prices fall,鈥� he said.
The December gold contract was down US$14.80 at US$1,739.60 an ounceand the December copper contract was down six cents at US$3.57 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
