TORONTO — Canada's main stock index closed higher for a fourth-straight day despite a big drop by Shopify Inc. and the tech sector.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 42.44 points to 21,362.36 for a gain of 818 points or four per cent since Friday.
U.S. markets were also higher Wednesday with the Dow Jones industrial average up 224.09 points at 35,629.33. The S&P 500 index was up 42.84 points at 4,589.38, while the Nasdaq composite was up 71.55 points at 14,417.55.
Despite the gains, the volatility that's been a force over the last couple of months continued, especially in the tech sector.
"A lot of the growthier software-related names and payment names are getting hit pretty hard," said Mike Archibald, vice-president and portfolio manager with AGF Investments Inc.
Ottawa-based Shopify ended the day down 10 per cent while Dye & Durham Ltd. fell 14.5 per cent. Lightspeed Commerce Inc. lost 7.3 per cent.
U.S. economic data was also weak with ADP employment numbers coming in at a loss of 301,000 jobs for January.
Archibald said some U.S. Federal Reserve speakers have warned that January payroll numbers on Friday could also be weak because of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
"You may see a weaker U.S. dollar and potentially some of the commodities continue to work well if the number does come in really weak."
The U.S. greenback was relatively flat against the loonie, but weaker compared with other currencies as several Fed speakers have tried to steer the market from chairman Jerome Powell's speech last week.
"You've had several out basically taking the 50 basis point hike off the table for March and trying to recalibrate the market I think to a lower pace of hikes for 2022," Archibald said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 78.88 cents US compared with 78.78 cents US on Tuesday.
Nine of the 11 major sectors on the TSX were higher, led by consumer staples with shares of Loblaw Cos. Ltd. up 3.5 per cent.
The heavyweight financials sector was propelled higher by gains by Canada's largest banks with Bank of Montreal, Toronto-Dominion Bank and CIBC up 1.9, 16 and 1.2 per cent, respectively.
Energy was also stronger as crude oil prices continued to increase amid lower U.S. inventories and confirmation from OPEC and its allies that output will increase by 400,000 barrels per day in March as planned.
The March crude contract was up six cents at US$88.26 per barrel after reaching an intraday high of US$89.72, while the March natural gas contract was up 75 cents at US$5.50 per mmBTU.
Birchcliff Energy Ltd. rose 5.5 per cent.
Crude prices continue to be extremely resilient, helping energy producers to generate huge free cash flow that helps share prices which remain cheap, Archibald said.
"There just continues to be overriding interest in energy names even on days where they're down. The corrections are very shallow. A couple of days and then buyers step back in fairly aggressively," he said.
"To my eye, that indicates that there's still a lot of market demand for these stocks, and so I think as we continue to see these companies report really strong numbers which we should for the next couple of quarters I think they're going to continue to be in demand by the market."
Metals prices also support the materials sector. The April gold contract was up US$8.80 at US$1,810.30 an ounce and the March copper contract was up 6.2 cents at US$4.50 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP, TSX:DND, TSX:LSPD, TSX:BIR, TSX:BMO, TSX:TD, TSX:CM, TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)
Ross Marowits, The Canadian Press
