Daily Wrap-Up: TSX drops as gold loses its shine

TSX drops as gold loses its shine... Manulife identified as mystery bank fined $1.15 billion... BMO economist predicts Canadian bonds sell-off...

Daily Wrap-Up: TSX drops as gold loses its shine
Steve Randall
TSX drops as gold loses its shine
The main index of the TSX lost ground Monday as the materials group slumped more than 4 per cent.

The group was impacted by a drop for gold prices as the US dollar strengthened in anticipation of a Fed interest rate rise. The loonie meanwhile was also subdued ahead of this week’s interest rate decision from the BoC.

Seven of the ten main sector groups of the TSX closed lower with healthcare, IT and telecoms gaining.

Wall Street closed slightly higher ahead of President Trump’s speech to Congress Tuesday. Europe closed mixed while Asian markets were mostly lower.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 69.96 (0.45 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed up 15.68 (0.08 per cent)
Oil is trending mixed (Brent lower at $55.95, WTI higher at $54.04 at 4.35pm)
Gold is trending lower (1252.80 at 4.35pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7605

Manulife identified as mystery bank fined $1.15 billion
Manulife Bank of Canada has been revealed as the lender fined $1.15 million by FINTRAC last year following an investigation by the CBC.

The regulator didn’t name the subject of its fine for failing to report hundreds of transactions under money laundering and terrorist financing laws, which was not received well by consumers.

The regulator’s director Gerald Cossette told CBC News that a review of FINTRAC’s penalty policies will be undertaken to hopefully avoid a gap between its actions and public expectation.

Manulife says that the non-reporting was the result of an “administrative error.”

BMO economist predicts Canadian bonds sell-off
The Canadian economy is doing well which is likely to trigger a sell-off in the bonds market, an economist with BMO Capital Markets is forecasting.

Benjamin Reitzes’ outlook is based on an expectation that investors will believe that the Bank of Canada will increase interest rates sooner than the mid-2018 estimate from economists.

That could mean a rise in bond yields and a drop in prices for bonds maturing in between 2 and 10 years.

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