Canada Stocks: TSX closes slightly lower on profit taking in tech; posts weekly gain

Canada Energy Partners

16/06/2023 22:02

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      TSX ends down 0.3% at 19,975.37
    

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      For the week, the index rises 0.4%
    

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      Technology falls 1.2%
    

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      Energy loses 0.8%; oil settles 1.6% higher
    

  
 (Updated throughout after the close)
    By Fergal Smith
       June 16 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed
slightly down for the day on Friday, as investors took some
profit in the high-flying technology sector, hoping that other
sectors will contribute more to the rally that resulted in a
weekly gain.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  ended down 51.98 points, or 0.3%, at 19,975.37, after
posting higher closes in the preceding four days. For the week,
the index was up 0.4%.
    "People are taking a little bit of profit off the table
which is probably why you are seeing a slight decline in the
markets today," said Allan Small, senior investment advisor of
the Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth.
    "Large cap tech has driven the bus for a while ... now you
are starting to see a little bit more participation in some of
the other areas."
    Technology has a much lower weighting on the Toronto market
than it does on the S&P 500, the U.S. benchmark. Still, it has
been the strongest performing sector this year by far.
    It gave back some of those gains on Friday, falling 1.2% as
bond yields climbed. The move higher in yields came as comments
from two Federal Reserve officials curtailed optimism that the
central bank is nearing the end of its aggressive interest rate
hikes.    
    Higher interest rates reduce the value to investors of the
future cash flows that technology companies are expected to
produce.    
    The real estate and utilities sectors are also sensitive to
the interest rate outlook. They fell 0.9% and 0.8% respectively,
while energy was down 0.8% despite oil settling 1.6% higher at
$71.78 a barrel.
    The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) has raised the cost
estimate for abandoning the pipelines it regulates by 79% to
C$18.6 billion ($14.10 billion).

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Ankika Biswas in
Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Sandra Maler and David
Gregorio)
 ((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446;))