The Stock Market At Close – Wednesday, September 6
The Toronto Market
The Toronto TSX composite index declined -186.8 points, or -0.9%, to close at 20,226.96. The TSX has been down three of the last four market sessions. The index was down even though the Bank of Canada decided to hold interest rate steady at the current twenty two year high value of 5% instead of another hike as the economy unexpectedly contracted during the second quarter. The bank did mention the possibility of further hikes in interest rates in future.
The market decline today was broad based as all ten major sectors of the TSX ended the day in red. The best performing sector was Non-Cyclical Consumer Goods and Services which decline -0.17% for the day. The Financials sector was down -0.58%; Technology was down -0.54%; Basic Materials was down -0.82%. Energy was down -1.05% and Industrials was down -1.12%. The important factor today for traders was not by how much the market was down but the spread of the decline. The market is signally that it is time to be cautious when trading. Making money at this market will be a lot harder than it has been recently.
Today’s Statistics: Today was almost practically a replica follow up to yesterday except a bit worse, the declined issues (decliners) totally outnumbered the gaining issues (advancers). The ratio of decliners to advancers was 3.52-to-1.00. In real numbers, 1,080 to 306 decliners with 213 unchanged. There were 33 new 52-week highs and 43 new 52-week lows. The total volume of shares traded for gaining stocks was 93,893,155 or 30.3%; the total volume for declined stocks was 206,586,069 or 66.7% and 9,096,063 or 2.9% for “Unchanged”.
The total volume of stocks traded today was 309,575,287 compared to 321,165,629 on yesterday. The volume of stocks traded today was down 3.7% compared to the volume yesterday.
The US Markets
The Dow Jones index declined -198.78 points, or -0.57%, to close at 34,443.19. The S&P 500 declined -31.35 points, or -0.70%, to close at 4,465.48. The Nasdaq Composite declined -148.48 points, or -1.06%, to close at 13,872.47.
The decline at the US markets today was also broad based just as with the decline of the Canadian TSX market. The issue on the US side though was the stronger-than-expected services sector data with the implication of inflation pressures possibly leading to further interest rate hikes.
Today, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 54.5 last month against expectations of 52.5, while a gauge of prices paid by service-sector businesses for inputs increased.
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 2.05-to-1. In real numbers, 2,615 decliners to 1,274 advancers with 291 unchanged. There were 57 new 52-week highs and 124 new 52-week lows. The total volume of volume-gaining stocks was 283,000,060 or 34.2%; the total volume of declined-volume stocks was 534,163,334 or 64.5%; and 10,661,691 or 1.3% “Unchanged”. The statistics today was a bit better than yesterday’s lopsided upper hand performance by the declining issues.
The total volume of stocks traded on the NYSE today was 827,825,085 compared to 872,349,589 yesterday. The volume today was down 5.2% from the volume yesterday.
On the NASDAQ, the ratio of decliners to advancers was 1.99-to-1. The decliners prevailed today. In real numbers, 2,859 decliners to 1,439 advancers with 372 unchanged. There were 51 new 52-week highs and 184 new 52-week lows. The total volume of volume-gaining stocks was 1,629,624,443 or 38.3%; the total volume of declined-volume stocks was 2,582,597,360 or 60.7% and 43,351,881 or 1.0% for “Unchanged”.
The total volume of stocks traded today was 4,255,573,684 compared to 4,466,221,620 yesterday. The volume today was down 4.8% compared to the volume yesterday.
Oil and the money markets: U.S. crude oil prices rose 1% to $87.54 a barrel. Crude has surged 11% during the past nine market sessions. The price of crude is of course constantly changing throughout the day as markets close in one part of the world and regional markets open in another parts of the wo0rld day depending on the time zone.
10 –year Treasury Yield: The 10-year Treasury yield rose 2 basis points to 4.29%. The 10-year yield has run up 20 basis points in the last three sessions. The reality is that while there is no strict hard figure, generally risks are higher when the 10-year yield is close to or above 4%. The two-year Treasury yield, which in reality is more closely tied to Fed policy, moved back above 5%, up nearly 6 basis points to 5.02%.
Stocks In The News/Stocks To Watch:
The market is likely changing and most of the indexes are below their 50-day moving averages. Some stocks to watch are AEHR Test Systems (AEHR) ,
Toyota Motors which has being seeing good trade volumes in recent market sessions. The stock closed at $178.83 today. FUTU Holdings Limited (FUTU), the stock’s market chart looks good.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) closed today at $182.19 after suffering relatively big decline during the market session. According to Reuters reports, China ordered officials at central government agencies not to use Apple’s iPhones and other foreign-branded devices for work or bring them into the office. The Wall Street Journal reported similar, citing people familiar with the matter. In recent weeks, staff were given the instructions by their superiors in workplace chat groups or meetings, according to the report, which added that it wasn’t clear how widely the orders were being distributed. The ban comes ahead of an Apple event next week that analysts believe will be about launching a new line of iPhones, and could trigger concerns among foreign companies operating in China as Sino-U.S. tensions escalate. We need to keep an eye on Apple stock to see how the stock reacts to the ban by China.
Regular Market Day Features
Beginner Investor’s (Canadian stocks) Watchlist
The Canadian Vanguard Chinese Stocks Watchlist
We shall keep updating our watchlist of Chinese stocks but we must bear in mind the higher risks due to the current economic issues in China. the economy over there appears to be not responding to the stimulus so far offered by the authorities to get the economy moving again. It may be a good idea to avoid trading the stocks for now but wait for the economy to start moving again.
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.
