The Toronto Stock Exchange Broadcast Centre is pictured in Toronto on June 28, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Republished November 13, 2017 - 1:55 PM
Original Publication Date November 13, 2017 - 8:21 AM
The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index slipped slightly lower Monday, while markets south of the border inched forward after seeing some losses earlier in the day.
The S&P/TSX composite index shed 13 points to 16,026.26.
The indice's performance is tied to geopolitical tensions, said Kash Pashootan, CEO and chief investment officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel.
Ongoing trouble between the U.S. and North Korea, as well as other global political issues have led to concerns about an oil supply disruption, he said, driving the commodity price higher and creating a resource-rooted rally for the exchange.
However, the price of oil didn't move much Monday — with the December crude contract gaining two cents to US$56.76 per barrel — leaving the TSX relatively flat as well, Pashootan said.
On Wall Street, indices continued to question whether U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver on promised reforms, like a corporate tax cut, Pashootan said, and indices dipped into the red.
"But there's no question that the underlying enthusiasm and appetite for buying equities continues to remain strong," he said, adding that's what lifted indices before markets closed.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 17.49 points to 23,439.70, the S&P 500 index rose 2.54 points to 2,584.84 and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 6.66 points to 6,757.60.
Pashootan expects U.S. markets to show volatility over the next couple of quarters, moving higher when optimism about Trump's reform grows and retreating at any sign of challenges in the president's way.
Elsewhere in commodities, the December gold contract rose US$4.70 to US$1,278.90 an ounce and the December copper contract advanced roughly four cents to about US$3.12 a pound. The December natural gas contract fell about five cents to roughly US$3.17 per mmBTU.
The Bank of Canada, which publishes the daily average exchange rate of the Canadian dollar, is closed in lieu of Remembrance Day.
By Aleksandra Sagan in Vancouver.
Follow @AleksSagan on Twitter.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2017