(Toronto) The Toronto Stock Exchange’s flagship index ventured even further into record territory on Friday, supported in particular by gains in the energy sector, themselves fueled by a rise in the price of crude oil and increasing demand.
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The Toronto Floor S & P / TSX Composite Index climbed 88.88 points to end at a record closing price of 20,138.35 points. He advanced to 20,155.92 earlier in the session.
The Toronto market thus recorded a third consecutive weekly gain and posted growth of 15.5% compared to the start of the year.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 13.36 points to 34,479.60 points, while the S&P 500 extended index rose 8.26 points to 4247.44 points. The NASDAQ Composite Index rose 49.09 points to 14,069.42 points.
“Although the general trend in the markets is optimism, improving economic data and improving earnings data, and so on, I think we are in the midst of a transition right now,” observed Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at Manulife Investment Management.
“We are in between the Q1 and Q2 earnings seasons, and rising inflation appears to be a problem in the near term, as bond yields have fallen to their lowest level in a matter of months. ”
“So overall we’re still on a positive trend, but I think the markets are going […] potentially stay on the sidelines throughout the summer, ”he argued in an interview.
The materials sector was the only one of eleven groups on the TSX to retreat on Friday, as gold prices fell on the strength of the US dollar.
The gold futures contract for August delivery retreated from US $ 16.80 to US $ 1,879.60 per ounce on the New York Commodities Exchange, while the copper futures contract for July delivery has jumped 5.25 US cents to close near US $ 4.54 a pound.
The consumer discretionary sector dominated the Toronto floor, gaining 1.3% as shares of Canadian Goose rose 4.6% on a strong rebound from store reopens in parts of its network and a diversification of its activities to sell something other than parkas.
The energy sector followed closely, with the price of oil crossing the threshold of US $ 71 per barrel earlier today in New York. The price per barrel closed up 62 cents US, at US $ 70.91, gaining 46% year-to-date.
The energy group is what kept the TSX ahead of its US counterparts on Friday.
“When the oil markets are doing well, the TSX is doing well historically and the TSX tends to outperform the United States when we are in an environment of accelerating growth and inflation, which we know today. », Underlined Mr. Petursson.
He explained that oil prices had risen because supply in the United States had not rebounded sharply and demand was increasing with the progression of COVID-19 vaccinations, which resulted in the lifting of health restrictions.
“So you have high demand and you have tighter supply that pushes the price of oil above what I would say most expectations were at the start of the year. ”
In the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at an average rate of 82.32 cents US, down from 82.69 cents US the previous day.
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