Canada Stocks: TSX slips to weekly decline as interest rate uncertainty weighs

iA

19/08/2022 21:48

(Adds investor quotes and details throughout, updates prices)
    * TSX ends down 153.99 points, or 0.8%, at 20,111.38
    * For the week, the index declines 0.3%
    * Tech sector falls 3.3%
    * Canadian retail sales rise 1.1% in June

    By Fergal Smith
    Aug 19 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Friday
as uncertainty around the pace of central bank interest rate
hikes weighed on technology shares, with investors taking stock
following a healthy rally in recent weeks.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  ended down 153.99 points, or 0.8%, at 20,111.38. For
the week, it fell 0.3% but was up 10.7% from its mid-July
trough.
    "It has been a strong run from the lows," said Elvis
Picardo, portfolio manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth.
"So it's not altogether surprising to see a little bit of
give-back here."
    Wall Street also slipped and bond yields climbed as
investors weighed how aggressive the Federal Reserve may need to
be as it raises interest rates to battle inflation.
    Still, measures of market volatility, such as the VIX index,
were trading at much lower levels than earlier this year.
    "From a big picture point of view, some of the panic we have
seen about inflation seems to have ebbed," Picardo said. "So has
concern about the pace of hikes and the magnitude of rate hikes
from the central banks."
    The technology sector on the Toronto market fell 3.3%,
including a decline of 6.9% for the shares of e-commerce giant
Shopify Inc  SHOP.TO .
    The materials group, which includes precious and base metals
miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.6%, as gold prices fell,
while heavily-weighted financials ended 0.8% lower. Banks are
due to begin reporting quarterly results next Wednesday.
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    Domestic data showed that 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.
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    Consumer discretionary stocks were down 0.9%.

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Additional reporting by Johann M
Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Alistair
Bell)
 ((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com;))