Canada’s main stock index looked set to snap a three-day winning streak on Friday as concerns over the rapid spread of the coronavirus outweighed optimism around a stimulus package, while a decline in oil prices dragged energy stocks lower.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 568.49 points, or 4.25%, to 12,802.68 by 11:45 a.m. ET.
Ten of the index’s 11 major sectors declined, with the energy sector dropping 8.2% as crude prices tumbled on dwindling demand.
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However, a strong run in the last three sessions has put the index on track for its first weekly gain after four straight weeks of declines.
Canada almost doubled the value of an aid package to $52-billion to help people and businesses deal with losses from the outbreak, but optimism around the measures were short lived.
Investors also looked past the Bank of Canada’s move to slash its key overnight interest by 50 basis points for the third time this month, cutting the rate to the lowest in more than a decade.
The financials sector slipped 4.5% and industrials fell 3.5%.
The health care sector rose 0.36% in morning trading.
Stocks across the globe fell on Friday after a historic three-day run-up, with indexes poised to close the month and quarter with starkly negative performances.
The volatility of the erratic markets is expected to continue as the coronavirus pandemic that triggered closures in economies worldwide remains very much a threat.
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The United States surpassed two grim milestones on Thursday as virus-related deaths soared past 1,000 and it become the world leader in confirmed cases.
The uncertainty over the overall human and economic toll was reflected in financial markets, with MSCI’s gauge of global stocks on track to post both its largest weekly percentage gain since 2008 and its largest monthly and quarterly drops since 2008.
The infection rate for the coronavirus is driving much of the market at a time of great uncertainty, said Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at INTL FCStone Financial Inc in New York.
“My big hang-up here is when the curve does start to flatten, that doesn’t mean we can return to normal human and economic behavior. If we do return to normal human and economic behavior, we risk the chance the curve goes parabolic again. Just from the perspective of how long this potentially can last, there’s still a great deal of uncertainty,” he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 827.25 points, or 3.67%, to 21,724.92, the S&P 500 lost 87.31 points, or 3.32%, to 2,542.76 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 255.69 points, or 3.28%, to 7,541.85.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 3.22% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 2.41%.
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Emerging market stocks lost 1.07%.
Stock markets have rallied over the past week on trillions of dollars of enacted and pledged economic stimulus by policymakers worldwide, from central banks to governments.
Policymakers may need to offer more stimulus as the virus slams the brakes on economic activity and increases healthcare spending.
“Next week, markets will likely continue to focus on the spread of COVID-19 – whether European cases are reaching a peak, how much of the U.S. will be put in lockdown, and whether China can avoid a second wave,” said Gaétan Peroux, strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that will flood the world’s largest economy with money to stem the economic damage caused by the pandemic.
Amid the avalanche of stimulus, the U.S. dollar was little changed for the day and remained on track for its biggest weekly decline since May 2009.
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The dollar index fell 0.393% on Friday.
The euro was up 0.24% to $1.1055, the Japanese yen strengthened 1.57% versus the greenback at 107.92 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.2367, up 1.36% on the day.
The U.S. currency’s fall after two weeks of steep gains suggests the Federal Reserve’s efforts to relieve a crunch in the dollar funding market are working, some analysts said.
“What we are seeing is abating stress in the money markets. Action by central banks has been successful so far and a shortage of dollars has been taken off the table,” said Ulrich Leuchtmann, head of FX and EM research at Commerzbank.
U.S. Treasury yields were headed for a weekly decline, though the range of trading was far less volatile than in the previous two sessions.
Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 22/32 in price to yield 0.7377%, from 0.808% late on Thursday. The 30-year bond last rose 1-26/32 in price to yield 1.3267%, from 1.395%.
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Oil prices continued their fall on demand concerns as the virus slowed economies to a crawl, which outweighed the stimulus efforts.
U.S. crude recently fell 5.44% to $21.37 per barrel and Brent was recently at $24.54, down 6.83% on the day.
Gold market participants remained concerned about a supply squeeze after a sharp divergence between prices in London and New York. The virus has grounded planes used to transport gold and closed precious metal refineries.
Spot gold dropped 0.3% to $1,623.82 an ounce. The metal was on track to post its largest weekly advance since 2008.
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
