The Stock Market At Close – Wednesday, May 31
The Toronto Market
The TSX composite index declined 167.46 points, or 0.9%, to close at 19,572.24. The index has declined five out of the past seven sessions.
The TSX’s closing today was it’s lowest in about nine weeks. The index declined 5.2% during the month of May. Today’s decline came with double the average volumes of shares traded for the previous two days. It would appear that traders were dumping shares today. The lowest closing this year was on March 15th when it closed at 19,379. Prior to that, the lowest closing was on January 2nd when it closed at 19,444.
The possibility of another increase in interest rate may be increasing as economic data released today showed that Canada’s economy grew 3.1% in the first quarter, faster than expected.
Oil prices weakened today. In addition, investors appeared concerned about the possibility of another interest rate hike. These two factors contributed to the poor showing today by the TSX. Inflation and interest rates are now the dominant factors driving the market.
Stock prices are down especially for the financials on both sides of the border. Heavily weighted financials fell 1.1%, with National Bank of Canada down 2.8% after the bank missed earnings estimates.
Weak economic data from top oil importer China pressured crude prices. The energy sector lost 2% as U.S. crude oil futures settled nearly 2% lower today.
Today’s Statistics: Today, the decliners totally outnumbered the advancers again. The ratio of declined issues to gaining issues was 1.72-to-1.00. In real numbers, 901 decliners to 524 advancers with 184 unchanged. There were 11 new 52 week highs and 68 new 52 week lows. The total volume of shares traded for gaining stocks was 157,059,757 or 31.0%; the total volume for declined stocks was 338,842,856 or 66.9% and 10,178,364 or 2.1% for “Unchanged”. Total volume of stocks traded was 262,565,375. The market is currently driven by a number of uncertainties and especially interest rate hike considerations. It may be prudent to stay in cash until the market outlook changes.
The US Market
The debt-ceiling deal was passed by the house vote this evening. It was widely expected to pass, and possibly because of that expectation the result of the vote earlier this evening had little impact on futures. It now has moves on to Senate for the next vote.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 134.51 points, or 0.41%, to close at 32,908.27. The S&P 500 declined 25.69 points, or 0.61%, to close at 4,179.83. The Nasdaq Composite declined 82.14 points, or 0.63%, to close at 12,935.29.
For the month, the S&P 500 rose 0.26%, the Dow lost 0.3.48% and the Nasdaq gained 5.80%. Technology-led gains have put the Nasdaq on track for its best performance in May since 2020.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said U.S. banks’ total deposits declined by a record 2.5% in the first quarter after two large bank failures. Recent economic data being released have not really favored a pause in rate hikes so the bear market may return any time.
Today’s Statistics: Today, the decliners prevailed over the advancers on both the NYSE and the NASDAQ. The gap was much reduced on the NASDAQ compared to on the NYSE. The ratio of declined issues to gaining issues on the NYSE was a 1.39-to-1. In real numbers, 2,334 decliners to 1,680 advancers with 308 unchanged. There were 40 new 52 week highs and 166 new 52 week lows. The total volume of volume-gaining stocks was 856,563,226 or 38.5%; the total volume of declined-volume stocks was 1,332,934,442 or 59.9%; and 34,160,302 or 1.5% “Unchanged”. Total volume of stocks traded on the NYSE today was 2,223,657,970.
On the NASDAQ, the ratio of gaining issues to declined issues was 1.38-to-1 or in real numbers, 2,590 decliners to 1,872 advancers with 370 unchanged. There were 51 new 52 week highs and 203 new 52 week lows. The total volume of volume-gaining stocks was 2,831,499,827 or 46.2%; the total volume of declined-volume stocks was 3,237,924,821 or 52.8% and 60,355,430 or 1.0% for “Unchanged”. Total volume of stocks traded was 6,129,780,078.
The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and 23 new lows.
Oil and the money markets:
U.S. crude oil prices fell 2% to $68.09 a barrel, just above 2023 lows. The dollar reached a six-month high Wednesday morning, but pared gains on the Fed hike ‘skip’ talk and lower yields.
10 –year Treasury Yield:
The 10-year Treasury yield fell six basis points to 3.64%, continuing to retreat after hitting 3.86% intraday last Friday.
Stocks In The News/Stocks To Watch
The Toronto Market
Teck Resources Ltd shares gained 2.3% after a report saying that Glencore Plc was working on a potential improvement to its bid for the company. Blackberry was up 3.70% today to close at $7.29 with a volume of 1.7M shares traded.
Regular Market Day Features
Beginner Investor’s (Canadian stocks) Watchlist
The banks’ stock prices are declining. The good news is the banks pay dividends so if they maintain the dividend are not decreased then the yield may be better
The Canadian Vanguard Chinese Stocks Watchlist
EV, Energy and Resource Stocks Watchlist at Today’s Market
Tesla and the other EV manufacturers are back on a roll. Tesla has gained nine out of the past eleven sessions.
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