Canada‘s main stock index edged lower on Monday, as energy shares tracked weaker crude, ahead of an expected renewal of the monetary policy framework by the Bank of Canada later in the day.
At 9:41 a.m. ET (14:41 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 10.79 points, or 0.07%, at 20,879.83.
The energy sector dropped 1.5% as oil prices fell over new concerns about the Omicron coronavirus variant and doubts around the effectiveness of vaccines against it. [O/R]
The healthcare sector, down 0.9%, added to losses with major pot producers including OrganiGram Holdings Inc, Tilray Inc, Cronos Group Inc down nearly 2%.
Investors await the press conference by the Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland due at 11:00 a.m. EST to announce the BoC’s new 5-year mandate.
The central bank is expected to renew its monetary policy framework on Monday, leaving its inflation target unchanged at 2% as concerns about the cost of living rise and the COVID-19 outlook remains uncertain.
“Inflation has been running above a 1%-3% band for several months now so it’s unclear if any changes will be made or if a US-style employment component could be added,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
Meanwhile, investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting later in the week, with expectations running high that the U.S. central bank will hint at a faster tapering of asset purchases and an earlier start to raising interest rates.
Limiting further losses was the materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, up 0.5%, as gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,784.8 an ounce. [GOL/]
HIGHLIGHTS
The TSX posted three new 52-week highs and four new lows.
Across Canadian issues, there were 23 new 52-week highs and 16 new lows, with total volume of 39.74 million shares.
(Reporting by Amal S in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
