Oil pressures TSX, but Wall Street rallies
Lower oil prices pushed the TSX down 0.54% to end the week. The price of WTI slid over 1% while WCS lost nearly 1%. Energy stocks sunk nearly 3% though materials lost ground by 2%. Financials were flat while industrials and telcos enjoyed modest gains Friday.
The volatile Ballard Power Systems was the biggest gainer at 7.65% while Paramount Resources was among the losers, closing -8.71%. A slew of gold and silver names which have run up recently gave up some of those gains, like Kelt Exploration at -7.91%. The price of gold inched down only slightly.
The week ended more positively on Wall Street as the IHS Markit Survey showed that sales in manufacturing and services have snapped back to their highest levels since early 2019. Another U.S. report indicated that home sales rose at a record pace in July as prices struck all-time highs. This data contrasts sharply with the bump in unemployment claims released Thursday. Nonetheless, the numbers lifted all the major indices, with the Dow climbing as high as 0.69% and the S&P and Nasdaq making fresh highs. The biggest gainer was Apple, rising 5.15% in heavy volumes last seen on July 31. Apple is now a US$2-trillion company and trading just below $500. Outside of big tech, though, industrials, financials and energy saw a mixed session.
⚡ Ballard Power Systems +7.65%
🛢 Paramount Resources -8.71%
🛢 Kelt Exploration -7.91%
🍎 Apple +5.15%