Markets inch down on cautious outlook

Thursday’s session opened positively, but soon traded in the red as investors took a cautious approach. Losses were moderate, with the Dow -0.41% and the Nasdaq, the best performer on Wall Street during this pandemic, shedding 0.97%. (The Nasdaq is only 5% below its mid-February record high.) The only S&P sector that closed higher Thursday was industrials. The TSX lost 0.76% as only real estate and especially tech closed higher. Lifting tech was Lightspeed who reported revenues soaring 70% in its last quarter. The stock shot up almost 38%. Meanwhile, cannabis stocks continued to climb with Aurora leaping over 35% and Cronos jumping about 11%.

Luxury retailers continue to cut back staff. Canada Goose will reduce 125 jobs and L Brands will shutter 250 Victoria’s Secrets stores. The stocks climbed 1.25% and 18.25% respectively Thursday. Meanwhile, Shopify will keep its employees, but they will be working from home for the rest of this year. The tech giant rose 3.83%.

Outgoing Bank of Canada Governor, Stephen Poloz, expects interest rates to remain low (currently 0.25%) and that Canada is on track to meet a best-case scenario for recovery (growth shrinking 15% in Q2). He urged patience and, though a second wave of outbreaks is possible, Poloz felt generally optimistic.

💿 Lightspeed POS +38%
🌿 Aurora Cannabis +35%
🌿 Cronos Group Inc +11%
🧣 Canada Goose Holdings +1.25%
🩱 L Brands Inc. 18.25%
🛍 Shopify Inc. +3.83%