Market View

Chinese and US trade officials discussed their Phase 1 trade deal saying both sides expected obligations to be met. Canadian stock index futures rose following this news. Oil rose, while gold remained unchanged. The Canadian dollar was 71.69 cents. S&P500 was up 4.1% this week and the TSX ended the week up 2.8%.

Technology jumped the highest by 10.3%, followed by consumer discretionary, which was up 3.6%. Utilities were up 2.3%. Energy slipped by 2.6%. Bombardier missed street estimates for quarterly profit, attributing the miss to delayed deliveries of its business jets due to the pandemic. Business activity is forecasted to plummet in the second quarter. Canadian Tire reported a small rise in first-quarter comparable sales, helped by a surge in online sales. Manulife Financial saw its first-quarter core earnings drop by 34% missing street estimates. Shopify posted a surprise-adjusted profit for the first quarter as merchants move their businesses online. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Freegold Ventures, Bombardier Inc, and B2Gold Corp.

5 from 5i

Here are five reads we found interesting last week:

• Shopify displaces RBC to become Canada’s most valuable company, written by Ian Vandaelle of BNN Bloomberg
• Inside the biggest oil meltdown in history, by Leah McGrath Goodman on the Institutional Investor website
• Disney reports a 58% drop in operating income from parks and cruises, its worst hit segment and suspended dividend, more on CNBC
• Warren Buffett should have listened to Warren Buffett about airlines, by Josh Barro of the Intelligencer
• Value crashes: Deep history, written by Mikhail Samonov of Two Centuries

Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

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Disclosure: Please note that the author does not hold a financial or other interest stocks or funds mentioned.