Canada Stocks: Toronto stocks fall amid global risk-off sentiment

Ballard Power Systems

19/08/2022 15:49

By Johann M  Cherian
    Aug 19 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Friday
as worries about an aggressive policy stance by major central
banks hurt risk appetite even as data showed domestic retail
sales rose unexpectedly in June.
    At 10:23 a.m. ET (14:23 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index  .GSPTSE  was down 123.67 points, or
0.61%, at 20,141.7.
    Global stocks slipped and the dollar gained ground as
investors digested comments from U.S. Federal Reserve
policymakers that signaled further interest rates were on the
horizon, while European data pointed to elevated inflationary
pressures.  MKTS/GLOB 
    The Canadian energy sector  .SPTTEN  dropped 0.3% even as
oil prices recouped from losses earlier in the session.  O/R 
    "A strong U.S. dollar is not good for multinationals,
because of the oil exposure in our country. Besides, globally
there are a lot of cross currents revolving around oil," said
Allan Small, senior investment advisor at HollisWealth Inc.
    Data earlier showed Canadian retail sales rose 1.1% in June,
easily beating forecasts, on pricier gasoline and higher sales
at car dealerships, but sales were seen falling in
July. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZV0QB
    All eyes are now on the Fed's annual Jackson Hole symposium
next week. 
    "The central banks have a very complex balancing act. They
want to slow down the economy too much. They don't want it too
hot or too cold, they want it just right," Small added.
    Canadian banks, which will begin reporting results next
week, are on average expected to post profit declines in the
third quarter as a murky economic outlook drives up provisions
for credit losses (PCL), analysts and investors said.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2ZU2PY
    The financials sector  .SPTTFS  slipped 0.7%. The
industrials sector  .GSPTTIN  fell 0.2%.
    The materials sector  .GSPTTMT , which includes precious and
base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.1% as gold
futures  GCc1  fell 0.3%.  GOL/   MET/L 

 (Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika
Syamnath)
 ((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com;))