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Equities

Canada’s main stock index rose at Friday’s opening bell, marking the sixth straight session of gains, in the wake of a better-than-forecast reading on retail sales. On Wall Street, indexes were mixed at the start of trading with the tech-heavy Nasdaq lower after disappointing results took a toll on Snap Inc. shares.

At 9:31 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 58.51 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 19,121.36. The TSX has posted gains in the five previous sessions.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 131.02 points, or 0.41 per cent, at the open to 32,167.92.

The S&P 500 opened lower by 0.52 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 3,998.43, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 34.24 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 12,025.37 at the opening bell.

All three U.S. indexes are on track for weekly gains.

Early Friday, shares of Snap Inc. sank 35 per cent in early trading after the company’s latest quarterly results disappointed investors. Revenue for the second quarter ended June 30 was US$1.11-billion, up 13 per cent from the year-earlier quarter. However, the figure also fell short of the US$1.14-billion analysts had been expecting. The company also said it planned to slow hiring.

“The Snap results came as a warning for other Big Tech names that rely on ad revenue,” Stephen Innes, managing partner with SPI Asset Management, said in a note.

“Therefore, FAANG stocks, which recovered to an almost two-month high yesterday, may not extend gains to the weekly close as the latest Snap results could reverse appetite for at least a couple of them, including Google and Meta before the closing bell.”

Meanwhile, Twitter Inc. reported a decline in quarter revenue citing industry headwinds due to the macroenvironment and uncertainty related to Elon Musk’s takeover bid. The two sides are now facing off in court after Mr. Musk pulled out of the deal. The social media company reported second-quarter revenue of US$1.18-billion, compared with US$1.19-billion a year earlier. Analysts were expecting US$1.32-billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Twitter shares were trading up slightly just after the opening bell.

In Canada, investors got a better-than-forecast reading on retail sales. Statistics Canada says sales rose 2.2 per cent in May. Economists had been looking for an increase of about 1.6 per cent. Sales were up in 8 of 11 subsectors, led by increased sales at gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers. Sales rose in every province.

“The advance estimate for June suggested a slowdown in sales to 0.3 per cent, which would represent a decline in volume terms,” CIBC economist Katherine Judge said. “Indeed, with consumption to shifting towards services, while inflation erodes consumer purchasing power, demand for discretionary goods will be under more pressure ahead.”

However, the agency also said it expects to see sales slow in June, with an early estimate indicating growth of 0.3 per cent for the month.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished 0.40-per-cent higher despite seeing losses early in the session. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.17 per cent.

Commodities

Crude prices struggled in a choppy session with demand concerns coming up against continued worries over tight supply.

The day range on Brent is US$103.20 to US$105.72. The range on West Texas Intermediate is US$95.65 to US$97.95. Both benchmarks feel about 3 per cent on Thursday.

“Global recession fears and the resumption of Russian gas flows to Europe seem to have been the catalyst [for the previous session’s losses], although I am sure that trading volatility recently is reducing liquidity as well, exacerbating movers,” OANDA senior analyst Jeffrey Halley said.

SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes also noted that traders are now looking ahead to next week’s rate decision from the Federal Reserve as recession fears cloud the outlook for demand.

“While 75 [basis-point rate hike] is in the cards, guidance will be important and any softening in the rate hike outlook would be great for global growth,” he said.

In other commodities, gold prices edged lower amid a stronger U.S. dollar and continued rate hikes by global central banks.

Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at US$1,715.93 per ounce by early Friday morning. Prices dropped to their lowest level in more than a year at US$1,680.25 on Thursday before ending up 1.3 per cent. Gold has gained 0.5 per cent so far this week, according to Reuters.

U.S. gold futures rose 0.3 per cent to US$1,717.70 per ounce.

Currencies

The Canadian dollar was little changed while its U.S. counterpart advanced against a group of world currencies.

The day range on the loonie is 77.44 US cents to 77.74 US cents. The dollar was closer to the top end of that spread in the predawn period. The Canadian dollar is up more than 1 per cent against the greenback so far this week.

“The risk mood and broader USD tone is likely to set the tone for the CAD to a large extent on the session but the weekly gain in the CAD looks impressive,” Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist with Scotiabank, said.

On world markets, U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against six major peers, was last up 0.52 per cent to 107.17, following a 0.34-per-cent decline during the previous session. The index is off about 0.79 per cent for the week so far and looks headed to its first losing week in four, according to figures from Reuters.

The euro was down 0.8 per cent at US$1.0152, falling further from Thursday’s peak of US$1.0279 following the ECB first rate hike in 11 years.

Britain’s pound slipped 0.4 per cent to US$1.1955, trimming its gain for the week to 0.72 per cent, Reuters reports.

In bonds, the yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year note was lower at 2.811 per cent.

More company news

Calgary-based Bonterra Energy Corp. says George Fink will be retiring as the company’s president and CEO effective Sept. 6. Mr. Fink will remain on Bonterra’s board. Patrick Oliver will be succeeding Mr. Fink in the post and will be joining the board.

American Express Co posted a 14-per-cent fall in quarterly profit on Friday as higher costs and an increase in reserves for potentially sour loans overshadowed record cardholder spending. Net income fell to $1.96-billion, or $2.57 per share, in the three months ended June 30, from $2.28-billion, or $2.8 per share, a year earlier. But adjusted card member spending surged by 30 per cent as customers, undeterred by decades-high inflation, spent heavily on travel and entertainment.

Verizon Communications Inc cut its annual adjusted profit forecast after adding fewer-than-expected monthly bill-paying phone subscribers in the second quarter, a sign that red-hot inflation has begun impacting its business. The U.S. wireless carrier added 12,000 net phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill in the quarter compared with FactSet estimates of 150,800 additions. In the first quarter, Verizon had lost about 36,000 subscribers. The company now expects 2022 adjusted earnings per share in the range of US$5.10 and US$5.25 per share, lower than the prior outlook of US$5.40 to US$5.55.

Economic news

Euro area manufacturing, services and composite PMIs. UK releases consumer confidence, retail sales and PMIs.

(830 am ET) Canada retail sales for May.

(945 am ET) U.S. S&P global PMIs for July.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press

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2022-07-22 09:37:06Z
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