By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com -- At midday in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was at 19,239.88 points, down 0.1%, or largely flat in the day’s trading. The Canadian index reversed gains from earlier in the day as worries of a rate-hike-driven recession continue to weigh on North American equities, ahead of quarterly US, and monthly Canadian GDP data due this week.
Investors will also be watching for a conference tomorrow from central bank leaders including Fed Chair Jerome Powell and European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde.
The Canadian benchmark rose earlier today as easing travel restrictions in China raise hopes for the reopening of the world’s second-largest economy, tempering worries of a global slowdown, and raising the outlook for demand in commodities, particularly crude and industrial metals.
The commodity-heavy Canadian index was unable to eke out a gain at midday, despite gains in energy +2.96% , following a new round of restrictions announced at a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) yesterday, and as major crude producers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates appear unlikely to significantly boost output.
Despite a rebound in industrial metals, buoyed by the prospect of the Chinese reopening, heavyweight materials (-1.28%) drove the Canadian index lower, remaining pressured by gold.
Gold miners were the biggest losers on the TSX so far today, including Capstone Mining Corp (TSX:CS) (-7.05%), Kinross Gold (TSX:K) (-5.60%), New Gold Inc (TSX:NGD) (-4.94%), and Torex Gold Resources Inc (TSX:TXG) (-4.70%). Lightspeed (TSX:LSPD) (-4.74%) was also amongst today’s biggest losers.
Energy stocks were across the board the biggest gainers on the TSX today, including Secure Energy (TSX:SES) (+8.16%), Spartan Delta Corp (TSX:SDE) (+6.80%), NuVista Energy (TSX:NVA) (+6.10%), Paramount Resources Ltd . (TSX:POU) (+5.87%), and ARC Resources Ltd . (TSX:ARX) (+5.31%).