Traders anticipate sell off on horizon
TORONTO — Canada’s largest stock market continued its second day of declines Thursday while major American indexes were mixed, as investors seek more clarity on several developments in the United States, including the economic policies of President Donald Trump.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index gave up 49.02 points at 15,781.20 after temporarily rebounding from Wednesday’s losses in early trading.
In New York, the Dow Jones advanced 34.72 points at 20,810.32, hitting an all-time high. The S&P 500 eked out 0.99 of point to 2,363.81 and the Nasdaq composite fell 25.12 points at 5,835.51 points.
In Washington, an unnamed senior White House official told the Associated Press that several U.S. manufacturing CEOs pushed for a controversial tax on imports during their meeting with President Trump Thursday. The tax, known as the “border-adjusted tax,” would also exclude exports from taxation.
While some Republicans are pushing it as a corporate tax reform, the tax has divided the business community. The border-adjusted tax is strongly opposed by large U.S. retailers such as Walmart and Target, who argue that they could pay more in taxes than they earn in profits.
“The markets are walking on eggshells a little bit,” said Allan Small, a senior investment adviser at HollisWealth.
“The slightest negative news out of Washington could sell the market off to some degree. And I think everybody is waiting for that to happen.”
Also weighing on minds is the possibility that the U.S. central bank may raise its key interest rate as soon as next month — as suggested by minutes released yesterday by the Federal Reserve from its January meeting. Most economists had indicated they did not foresee a rate hike until June.
Although the markets have made big gains since the U.S. presidential election, Small said the movements are “based on hope rather than anything concrete at this point.”
“You’re seeing a market that in many instances is overvalued, whether you take the Toronto stock market, whether you take the U.S. markets,” Small said. “People are starting to question how far and long can this rally go. You don’t want to be out of this market because obviously it’s moving higher and everyone’s making money, but you have to be careful because if you go in with both hands, both fists, you could be in for a bit of a sell off.”
In currencies, the Canadian dollar was at 76.25 cents US, up 0.17 of a U.S. cent.
The April crude contract gained 86 cents at $54.45 per barrel and April natural gas rose five cents to $2.75 per mmBTU. The April gold contract was up $18.10 at $1,251.40 an ounce and March copper fell nine cents to $2.64 a pound.