Investing.com -- Canada’s main stock index finished lower in trading Thursday, as investors digested key earning reports from tech giants Meta and Microsoft while anticipating results from Apple and Amazon.
By the 4:00 ET closing time, the bellwether S&P/TSX 60 index had fallen by 1.55 points or 0.1%. This follows yesterday’s marginal fall of 2.2 points or 0.1%
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index was down 46.13 points or 0.2%. In Wednesday’s trading, the index declined by 32.8 points or 0.1%, having notched its highest closing level since April 2 on Tuesday.
Underpinning sentiment was yesterday’s GDP report, showing GDP retraction of 0.2% in February, following a 0.4% GDP increase in January. Goods-producing industries drove the downturn.
CIBC (TSX:CM)’s Andrew Grantham said, "Given that Q1 growth was partly driven by tariff front-running activity, and that new tariffs have been applied on Canadian goods subsequently, we continue to expect a modest contraction in GDP during the second quarter of the year. That would be closer to the Bank of Canada’s more pessimistic scenario 2 projection within the April MPR, and evidence of this within upcoming data should bring a 25bp interest rate cut at the June meeting."
Underpinning investment sentiment in Canada was cautious during a chaotic earnings season and amid uncertainty fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s volatile trade policy.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals won a minority government in the election Monday, as Canadians hope Carney can hold fast to his tough stance on Trump, prioritizing economic independence and Canadian sovereignty.
U.S. stocks steadily gain
Trading in U.S. stock indexes hastened to gains on Thursday, as investors gauged key earnings and awaited upcoming labor data.
At the 4:00 ET close, the Dow Jones rose by 55.4 points or 0.1%, the S&P showed upside of 34.4 points or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq followed with a jump of 264.4 points, or 1.5%.
In yesterday’s trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 141.7 points or 0.4%, and the S&P 500 jumped by 8.2 points or 0.2%. The NASDAQ Composite fell 15 points or 0.1% on the day.
The U.S.’ growth and inflation data showed a smaller-than-expected rise in employment for April, and March’s PCE index showed a 2.3% inflation increase, downward from February’s indication of 2.7%.
After Wednesday’s close, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results and upbeat guidance that pointed to increased spending on artificial intelligence cooling fears about slowing AI demand. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) also outperformed expectations, bolstered by its Azure cloud business, which grew 33% y-o-y.
In Thursday’s premarket earnings reports, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) posted a surprising decline in Q1 comparable sales, sending shares down 1%. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) posted higher-than-expected Q1 revenue, but shares fell 4% on disappointing Zepbound drug sales.
News of the day included Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) rejecting reports that its Board had been contacting firms to find a replacement for CEO Elon Musk, a federal judge ruling that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) violated an antitrust injunction, and reports of the U.S. easing its chip tariffs on UAE for Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA). Tesla and Nvidia rose 1.1% and 4.5%, respectively, as of 1:15 ET.
Investors are closely watching for Thursday after-hours earnings, as industry giants Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) are set to release Q1 results. Updates to Apple’s AI plan, as well as Amazon’s CapEx spending and AWS growth, are expected to be especially indicative.
Crude starts rising
Oil prices fell further Thursday, before suddenly gaining, attempting a rebound amid the week’s selloff on concerns of weakening demand following the contraction of the U.S. economy as well as the potential for increased supply.
By 3:50 ET, Crude Oil WTI Futures were jumping 1.5%, pricing in at $59.08 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures rose 1.4%, moving to $61.94 per barrel.
Both contracts have lost over 15% so far this month, the biggest percentage drop since November 2021.
Gold Futures drop
Gold traded downwards on Thursday, as investors have started a turn back to stocks in a resilient market.
At 3:50 ET, Gold Spot fell 1.9% to $3,227.74/oz, while Gold Futures traded lower by 2.5%, pricing in at $3,235.84/oz.
The precious metal has experienced a fall in markets lately, after hitting record highs continually over the past months.
(Peter Nurse also contributed to this article)
