Markets summary

CANADIAN STOCKS

North American stock markets continued to fluctuate in the aftermath of central-bank plans to start raising interest rates in the coming weeks. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 51.78 points to 20,544.11 after climbing more than 250 points in early trading.

U. S. STOCKS

Wall Street gyrated wildly with the S&P 500 once again narrowly avoiding correction confirmation at the end of a session marked by a rally, sell-off and recovery as investors juggled positive economic news with mixed corporate earnings, geopolitical unrest and the prospect of a more hawkish Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.02 per cent to 34,160.78, the S&P 500 lost 0.54 per cent to settle at 4,326.51, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.4 per cent to 13,352.78. Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, five ended in the red.

Shares of Tesla Inc. dropped 11.6 per cent after the company warned that supply issues will last throughout 2022.

Netflix Inc. jumped 7.5 per cent following news that billionaire investor William Ackman has amassed a new US$1-billion stake in the company.

COMMODITIES

Oil prices fell as the market balanced concerns about tight worldwide supply with expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon tighten monetary policy. Global benchmark Brent fell 62 US cents to settle at US$89.34 a barrel, while U.S. crude closed 74 US cents lower at US$86.61 a barrel in a volatile session with both contracts see-sawing between positive and negative territory.

The February gold contract was down US$36.60 at US$1,793.10 an ounce and the March copper contract was down 9.2 US cents at US$4.42 a pound.

FOREX AND BONDS

The Canadian dollar weakened to a three-week low against its U.S. counterpart as bets on faster interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve bolstered the greenback against a basket of major currencies. The Canadian dollar was trading 0.6 per cent lower at 1.2745 to the greenback, or 78.67 US cents, after touching its weakest level since Jan. 6 at 1.2747. Canadian government bond yields were lower across a flatter curve, with the 10-year down six basis points at 1.780 per cent.

The U.S. five-year yield, which is also an indicator of the market’s rate outlook, climbed to 1.701 per cent overnight, the highest since December, 2019. But five-year yields have since traded little changed at 1.6518 per cent. The March natural gas contract was up 24.7 US cents at US$4.28 per mmBTU.