Daily Wrap-up: Most TSX sectors gain but energy drags

Most TSX sectors gain but energy drags... Foreign investors increase Canadian securities... Alberta recession among the most severe says TD...

Steve Randall
Most TSX sectors gain but energy drags
It was a mostly positive start to the week for Toronto’s main stock index with 9 of the 10 main sectors gaining. However, lower oil prices amid growing concern over the supply glut and future demand punished energy stocks which held back larger gains for the TSX.

Elsewhere, Wall Street ended higher, hitting new records. Asian markets closed mostly higher, except Shanghai while Tokyo was closed for a public holiday. European indexes closed lower although London gained following the massive acquisition bid from SoftBank for the UK-based chipmaker ARM.
 
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 49.98 (0.35 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed up 16.30 (0.09 per cent)
Oil is trending lower (Brent $47.00, WTI $45.27 at 4.20pm)
Gold is trending higher (1330.00 at 4.20pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7730
 
Foreign investors increase Canadian securities
The trend of increasing foreign investment in Canadian securities continued in May, Statistics Canada reported Monday, with Canadian bonds most in demand.

Foreign investors added $14.7 billion to their Canadian holdings in the month, roughly in line with that of the previous four months, and brought the total for the first 4 months of the year to $74.6 billion. That compares to $66.2 billion for the same period of 2015.

Meanwhile, Canadian investors bought $5.1 billion of foreign securities in May, the fourth month of gains.

Most of the investment was in equities, especially in the US; the total of foreign shares bought by Canadians was $4.7 billion of which $3.1 billion was in US shares.
 
Alberta recession among the most severe says TD
A new report from TD Economics says the current downturn in Alberta’s economy could be among the most severe ever. The estimated 3 per cent slide in GDP for 2016 will add to the 3.5 per cent decline since 2014; 6.5 per cent is double the contraction of the province’s previous 4 recessions.

"The economic fallout from last year's oil price plunge has continued to reverberate through the province so far this year. And just as the global oil market has provided a decent whiff of recovery, the northern part of the province was hit by the outbreak of wildfires in May," the report states.
 

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