The International Monetary Fund predicting a slowdown in the world’s economy wasn’t enough to keep the TSX from rolling to its 12th consecutive winning day.
In its 2019 update, the IMF noted that global expansion has weakened, and that risks to global growth are tilting to the downside.
Among the culprits are an escalation of trade tensions beyond those already incorporated in the forecast, a “no-deal” withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, and a greater-than-envisaged economic slowdown in China.
Meanwhile, the focus shifted to Bay Street with American markets closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Despite the gloomy IMF report and China reporting its slowest economic pace since 1990, the TSX climbed 50 points above the flat line by the final bell.
It was a mixed day for the index’s 11 main sectors, with seven of them, including the key financials and energy sectors, moving into the green.
The TSX was well into positive territory despite lagging energy stocks including Crescent Point Energy, off by 4.9 percent, Baytex Energy, which lost 3.1 percent, and MEG Energy Group, down 1.6 percent.
Oil prices see-sawed before swinging to the demand side of the pendulum, driven mostly by global supply cuts.
And while Oil inched 10 cents higher to $53.90 US a barrel, gains were capped by China’s economic slowdown and reports of strong-than-expected production from the U.S. and Iran.
The loonie slid backwards, falling 27/100ths of a cent to $0.7520 US while gold also fell into the red, down $3.00 to $1,279 an ounce.
Elsewhere, Toronto-based Barrick Gold is mulling over selling its copper mine in Zambia.
According to a release, Barrick’s chief operating officer for Africa and the Middle East, Willem Jacobs, said proposed tax changes would put the Lumwana copper mine in a “challenging situation.”
“The proposed changes to taxes and royalties would imperil the mine’s ability to sustain returns to all stakeholders, such as the significant contribution of more than $3.3 billion it has already made to the Zambian economy over the past 10 years,” Jacobs said.
Barrick Gold’s stock rose 1.6 percent today.
