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TSX Begins Negative

Canada's main stock index fell at the open on Monday, with energy and technology stocks leading declines at the start of a week packed with interest rate decisions from central banks around the world.

The TSX settled 38.35 points to open Monday and a new week at 20,676.13.

The Canadian dollar sagged 0.16 cents at 74.99 cents U.S.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange eked back 0.03 points to 621.98.

All but three of the 12 subgroups were lower, with health-care 1.3% in the red, while energy and information technology each gave back 1.1%.

The three gainers were industrials, up 0.7%, while communications and consumer staples each advanced 0.3%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks traded lower on Monday amid a January rally as investors braced for the busiest week of earnings season and a possible interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrials nicked ahead 9.26 points to start the day and the week at 33,987.34.

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The S&P 500 faltered 13.39 points to 4,057.17.

The NASDAQ Composite swooned 89.89 points to 11,531.82.
Wall Street is coming off a winning week as the stock market’s January rally continued. The NASDAQ gained 4.3% for the week, while the S&P 500 moved ahead 2.5% and Dow added 1.8%. The S&P 500 is up 5.3% for 2023 following a 19% loss last year and closed at a new year-to-date high on Friday.

There are several tests this week for this 2023 rally. About 20% of the S&P 500 will report earnings this week, including McDonald’s and General Motors on Tuesday followed by tech giants Apple, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Alphabet later in the week.

The Federal Open Market Committee meets on Tuesday and Wednesday, when the Fed is expected to hike rates by one-quarter of a percentage point. Investors will be looking for clues about how much higher the central bank will take rates in the fight against inflation. Traders have pushed stocks higher this year in part because of softer inflation reports, which they suspect could cause the Fed to soon pause its hiking campaign.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell slightly, raising yields to 3.54% from Friday’s 3.52%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices retreated 97 cents to $78.71 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices doffed $3.70 to $1,941.90 U.S. an ounce.