Canada’s benchmark stock market index closed over 100 points higher Monday June 23rd.
The S&P/TSX composite index increased 111.79 points at 26,609.36.
Capital Group equity investment specialist, Kathrin Forrest, explained that TSX gains were mainly driven by tech and mining companies.
“The leaders there were IT, Shopify being a standout there, and then materials, most noteworthy, gold. And then within gold, that was continuing strength that we have seen year to date,” she said.
In addition, the TSX materials index is up about 32% year to date, while the gold subindex is up around 50%.
“So gold continuing to meaningfully contribute to year-to-date TSX returns, TSX overall year to date is up to 7.5 per cent,” Forrest stated.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.70 cents US compared with 72.84 cents US last Friday.
US Stock Markets
US markets also bumped up despite dropping oil prices due to the US’s troubling and controversial strikes on Iran
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 374.96 points at 42,581.78. The S&P 500 index was up 57.33 points at 6,025.17, while the Nasdaq composite was up 183.56 points at 19,630.9 (BNN Bloomberg).
The August crude oil contract was down US$5.33 at US$68.51, while the August gold contract was up US$9.30 at US$3,395.00/ounce (Orilla Matters).
Igniting a spark
Forrest asserted that gains in US markets were largely pushes by economic data that was generally supportive of the U.S. economy.
“The S&P Composite PMI, so Purchasing Manager Index … the sub-indicies are manufacturing and services, they both came in at above 50, which means that there’s ongoing positive momentum, even though it might have slowed down a little bit, but the momentum overall continues to be positive,” she said.
On Wall Street, Tesla was the driving force behind accelerating the S&P 500 higher after jumping 8.2%.
On Sunday, the EV company finally tested of a small collection of self-driving cabs in Austin, Texas. For years, CEO Elon Musk has emphasized how critical self-driving cabs are to Tesla’s high stock price.
Slippery slope
Normally, oil prices increase during turbulent relations with the Middle East. Shockingly, the this pattern broke on Monday.
When trading began on Sunday night, oil princes initially jumped 6%, triggering anxiety and worry among investors, let alone worldwide concern.
All of those gains plummeted to a sharp loss as the spotlight moved over to how Iran would react and retaliate to the US’s actions.
Overall, the August crude oil contract was down US$5.33 at US$68.51, while the August gold contract was up US$9.30 at US$3,395.00 an ounce.
