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North American stock markets set new records after U.S.-China trade deal signing

about 4 hours ago By: Canadian Press

TORONTO — North American stock markets moved further into record territory midweek in the wake of the signing of a trade deal between the world's two largest economies.

U.S. President Donald Trump revelled in the market rally during a meandering speech at the signing ceremony for what he described as "a beautiful monster deal."

The Phase 1 agreement lowered tensions by ending an 18-month dispute despite disagreement over Chinese government subsidies and intellectual property protections that remain unresolved.

The momentum of the market rally continued Wednesday even though details in the trade deal weren't new, says Michael Currie, vice-president and investment adviser at TD Wealth.

"It's like almost everything we've seen in the last few weeks in this market, almost all news is good news," he said in an interview.

"We got through Iran, we got through all the other different things and the market barely blinked so today, normally you would see a bit of a slowdown but as we speak it's just hitting new highs again."

Currie said nothing seems to be able to derail the market and very strong investor sentiment in the longest bull run in history.

"Whereas we used to see people waiting for a five or 10 per cent dip, now we see a one or two per cent dip and people are jumping in so everybody seems to want to be on the train."

The S&P/TSX composite index set a new record close by gaining 62.27 points to 17,415.17 after trading as high as 17,421.67.

In New York, markets set intraday highs before giving up much of the gains. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 90.55 points at 29,030.22 after reaching 29,127.59. The S&P 500 index was up 6.14 points at 3,289.29, while the Nasdaq composite was up 7.37 points at 9,258.70.

U.S. markets were also helped by good earnings results for most companies, although discount retailer Target Corp. slumped 6.6 per cent on a weak holiday season and Bank of America was down 1.8 per cent after reporting a drop in fourth-quarter profits.

The Canadian dollar traded for 76.63 cents US compared with an average of 76.56 cents US on Tuesday.

Eight of the 11 major markets on the TSX were higher led by health care as cannabis producers saw their shares surge with six posting the highest trading volumes on the day.

Organigram Holdings Inc. gained 44 per cent a day after reporting strong first-quarter results, while Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Hexo Corp. were up 15.4 and 15.9 per cent respectively. Aurora's share price partially recovered from hitting a 52-week low on Monday.

The real estate and materials sectors each increased by more than one percentage point.

Shares of Gold producers Yamana Gold Inc., Kinross Gold Corp. and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. rose by more than three per cent on higher gold prices.

Currie said investors are investing in gold to diversify their holdings as "a little insurance" as markets keep climbing.

The February gold contract was up US$9.40 at US$1,554.00 an ounce and the March copper contract was down 0.75 of a cent at US$2.87 a pound.

Energy lost one per cent as Crescent Point Energy Corp. led with its shares down 3.3 per cent on lower energy prices fell.

The February crude contract was down 42 cents at US$57.81 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was down 6.7 cents at US$2.12 per mmBTU.

Crude futures fell to a six-week low as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a report that it expects lower demand for its oil this year as rival producers grab more market share of rising global demand.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:YRI, TSX:K, TSX:AEM, TSX:ACB, TSX:HEXO, TSX:OGI, TSX:CPG, TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)

Ross Marowits, The Canadian Press

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