The Toronto Stock Exchange Broadcast Centre is shown in Toronto on Friday June 28, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Republished August 21, 2020 - 1:57 PM
Original Publication Date August 21, 2020 - 6:51 AM
TORONTO - The energy and materials sectors dragged down Canada's main stock index Friday, while markets south of the border moved up on the continued strength of technology stocks.
The S&P/TSX composite index retreated 88.91 points to 16,517.85.
"Our index continues to be driven by commodity prices," said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management.
The energy sector, which fell 2.9 per cent, was the worst performer of the day. The drop came as the price of oil fell with, the October crude contract losing 48 cents to US$42.34 per barrel.
The materials sector did not fare much better, losing 2.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, in New York, major indexes made gains to close the trading week.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 190.60 points to 27,930.33 and the Nasdaq composite rose 46.85 points to 11,311.80.
Much of the momentum boils down to strong performance by technology companies, said Petursson, highlighting Apple Inc.'s performance Friday.
Apple shares gained US$24.38, or 5.15 per cent, to US$497.48 on the Nasdaq.
"What we tend to see with markets is... momentum begets momentum," he said, noting Apple has trended upward since reaching a low in late March amid the broad downturn related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"As stocks tend to do well, other investors pile in, not wanting to miss any further gains," he said of Apple's and other technology companies.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index moved up 11.65 points to 3,397.16, surpassing an all-time high of 3,389.78 set Tuesday.
"It's just such a surprise given where the U.S. economy is and where earnings are to see the market having recovered as fast as it did and even reach new highs."
The Canadian dollar traded for 75.73 cents US compared with 75.79 cents US on Thursday.
In commodities, the December gold contract rose 50 cents to US$1,947.00 an ounce and the October natural gas contract gained seven cents to US$2.57 per mmBTU. The price of copper fell about two per cent, with the September contract down nearly six cents to about US$2.92 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2020.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)
News from © The Canadian Press, 2020