The Stock Market At Close – Monday, September 25
The Toronto Market
The Toronto TSX composite index gained 20.64 points, or 0.10%, to close at 19,800.61. The index was down about 100 points early in the market session but climbed up and down to finally close 20 points above Friday’s closing figure. The volume at today’s session was much higher than at Friday’s.
Energy was the leading sector today. It gained 1.09%. Consumers Discretionary Goods & Services gained 0.59%; Industrials gained 0.37% and Technology had the lowest gain at 0.30%. Healthcare sector declined -0.07%; Financials declined -0.21%; Basic Materials declined -0.25%; Utilities declined -0.74% and Telecommunications Services declined -1.06% literally reversing Friday’s order of things with the ranks of TSX sectors.
Today’s market session ended with the TSX up just 20 points. It was a small gain but could that be the beginning of a rally attempt? Frankly the current market conditions are more likely rally crippling than rally enabling. The US 10-year Treasury yield climbed today to a height last seen in October 2007. At that time Lehman Brothers was still around and the 2008 recession (economic depression was just about to start. While we cannot, for certain say a recession is lurking around the corner, looking for the opportunity to jump out to start to humble us all, what we know is that such a high 10-year yield rate is not a likely environment for brewing up a stock market rally. It is time to avoid adventurous trading. It is most likely time to stay in cash and enjoy the action from the sidelines.
Today’s Statistics: The declined issues (decliners) outnumbered the gaining issues (advancers) today. The ratio of decliners to advancers was 1.73-to-1.00. In real numbers, 856 decliners to 495 advancers with 222 Unchanged. There were 16 new 52-week highs and 124 new 52-week lows. The total volume of shares traded for gaining stocks was 158,591,142 or 49.1%; the total volume for declined stocks was 128,250,950 or 39.7% and 36,454,995 or 11.3% for “Unchanged”.
The total volume of stocks traded today was 323,297,087 compared to 258,023,919 yesterday, a 25.3% increase. Today’s volume of 323,297,087 was a bit above the most recent ten-market session average.
Far more, almost eight times, stocks are receding to their 52 week low than are reaching new high values – a clear indication of a tough market for growth stocks.
The US Market
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 43.04 points, or 0.13%, to close at 34,006.88. The S&P 500 gained 17.38 points, or 0.40%, to close at 4,337.44. The Nasdaq Composite was up 59.51 points, or 0.45%, to close at 13,271.32.
Energy led the gains among the only four gaining sectors today. The sector gained a respectable 1.09%. Durable Consumer Goods followed with a gain of 0.59%. Industrials gained 0.37% and Technology was up 0.30%. Healthcare declined -0.07%; Financials followed with -0.21 decline; Basic Materials declined -0.25% and Telecommunication Services was today’s worst performing sector with a decline of -1.06%.
The indexes closed with rather modest gains. There were neither big declines nor big gains with any of the sectors or even with the stocks. It would appear investors were today, simply content to keep things within check, kind of subdued. Most stock with gains today kept the gains in the range 1.0% to 1.7%.
Today’s Statistics: Today, the declined issues (decliners) outnumbered the gaining issues (advancers) on both the NYSE and NASDAQ. The ratio of decliners to advancers on the NYSE was 1.23-to-1. In real numbers 1,764 advancers to 2,165 decliners with 276 “Unchanged”. There were 52 new 52-week highs and 341 new 52-week lows. The total volume of volume-gaining stocks was 459,493,449 or 54.6%; the total volume of declined-volume stocks was 375,625,532 or 44.6%; and 6,462,648 or 0.8% “Unchanged”.
The total volume of stocks traded on the NYSE today was 841,581,629 compared to 921,645,545 yesterday, an 8.8% decrease. Today’s total volume at 841,581,629 shares traded was slightly lower than the recent 10-day average.
On the NASDAQ, the ratio of decliners to advancers was 1.11-to-1. The decliners prevailed today but the gap between the decliners and advancers was about usual. For every ten advancers there were eleven decliners. In real numbers, 2,468 decliners to 1,872 advancers with 373 unchanged. There were 45 new 52-week highs and 429 new 52-week lows. The total volume of volume-gaining stocks was 2,449,385,669 or 58.4%; the total volume of declined-volume stocks was 1,693,508,763 or 40.4% and 48,156,258 or 1.1% for “Unchanged”.
The total volume of stocks traded today was 4,191,050,690 compared to 4,412,627,870 on Friday, a decrease of 6.1%.
Oil and the money markets: Oil prices dipped today but remained within 2023 highs. West Texas intermediate futures settled near $90 a barrel.
10 –year Treasury Yield: The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield continued to climb, reaching 4.54% level. The Fed’s higher-for-longer forecasts sent investors fleeing from bonds and stocks. The 10-year yield remains almost unchanged at 4.531% as at 6:30pm this evening at the overnight futures market. The last time the yield was this high was October 2007 and of course by 2008 there was a recession. The high yield contributed to Lehman Brothers collapse which was one of the early signs of the 2008 recession.
Gold and Precious Metals: Gold was trading at 1,935.40 down -1.20 or -0.06%
(as at 6:24pm EDT) Silver was at 23.38 down -0.005 or -0.02%
Copper was at $3.6755, up +0055 or +0.15%
Platinum was at $916.30, down -1.20 or -0.13%
Stocks In The News/Stocks To Watch:
The Toronto Market
If it had not been for the current high value of the US 10-year yield, today’s market performance would have looked like a normal day’s performance by the markets. There are stock that continue to defy the current market downtrend. Precision Drilling Corporation (TSX:PD) is one such stock. Today PD stock today gained $0.51 or 1.58% to close the market session at $91.85 wit ha total of 37.45K shares changing hands.
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. has changed its name to AtkinRealis. AtkinsRéalis [SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.] (TSX: ATRL), a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world, released its annual ESG report earlier today. The report lays out the Company’s progress toward achieving its ESG targets, as well as detailing additional information on commitments made in 2022.
At the markets today, ATRL stock gained $0.31 or 0.67% to close at $46.29. The volume of shares traded today was 435.1K.
Some highlights of the report are:
Environmental
— Derived approximately half of total revenues from projects contributing to a sustainable future and carbon free economy, according to a management estimation.
— Joined a campaign urging governments around the world to require all large businesses and financial institutions to assess and disclose their impacts and dependencies on nature by 2030.
— Committed to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). The SBTi drives ambitious climate action with over 2,000 companies globally, to set science-based emissions reduction targets in line with the targets of the Paris Agreement.
— Reduced combined Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 87%, compared to the Company’s 2019 baseline.
Social
— Announced the launch of Indigenous E3, a special purpose limited partnership formed between AtkinsRéalis and Indigenous Community and Engagement, to identify and deliver projects that support Indigenous advancement and long-term prosperity.
The US Markets
McKesson Corp (MCK), a provider of diversified healthcare services is practically involved in every aspect of healthcare in the US. The stock has been on the climb recently even as the market downtrend started to hurt other stocks. Today, McKesson Corp gained $7.76 or 1.77% to close at $446.42. The volume of shares traded was 999.0K. MCK is surely a stock to keep an eye on.
Super Micro Computers Inc. (SMCI) was climbing steadily earlier in the year just as the AI announcements were gathering pace. the stock has become very volatile. It put a good performance at the market today gaining a respectable 5.56% or $13.11 to close at $248.86 with 2.6M shares changing hands. If the market changes from the current character, SMCI is one stock that will most likely try to reclaim the decline of the past few weeks. The market will always do what it choses to do. The market may for example continue to decline or simply maintain the current status quo.
Nvidia Corp (NVDA) has gained Friday and today, two consecutive sessions. The AI hype is certainly on the wane but AI requires a lot computing power – including the capability to compare huge amounts of data at fast speeds. Nvidia will continue to be relevant for some time at the minimum. Today, NVDA gained $6.12 or 1.47% to close at $422.22. The volume of NVDA shares traded today was 41.9M. The stock belongs in our watchlist.
Pinduoduo (PDD) remains one of the Chinese ADRs that one must keep an eye on. The stock appears ready to climb only if the market posture will allow.
Regular Market Day Features
Beginner Investor’s (Canadian stocks) Watchlist
The Canadian Vanguard Chinese Stocks Watchlist
EV, Energy and Resource Stocks Watchlist
IMPORTANT NOTICE
SUBSCRIPTION Offer: We thank you for following our Stock Market posts but please be aware that we shall soon be restricting these articles to subscribers only.
We do not send this publication by email to readers. If you receive a copy by email please simply forward the email to us.
