TSX posts steepest daily decline in three months as bond yields jump
EWC•Energy gains limit the decline
Gains for energy .SPTTEN helped limit the TSX's decline, with the sector adding 0.5%.
The price of oil CLc1 settled 1.8% higher at $92.16 a barrel after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Tehran would never surrender to the U.S.
Higher rates pressure financials and materials
- "A lot of it is pass through of some of the macro cross-currents that are playing out," said Bipan Rai, head of ETF and alternatives strategy at BMO Global Asset Management.
- Macro cross-currents include "higher rates and what that means for long-duration assets, including equities," Rai said, adding "that's important for some of the more cyclical sectors within the TSX, including financials and tech."
- The U.S. benchmark 10-year yield moved back above 5% and hit its highest level since 2007 as oil prices rose and strong economic data boosted bets the Federal Reserve would hike interest rates next month, while the Canadian 10-year was up 12 basis points at 3.95%.
- Heavily weighted financials
.SPTTFSfell 1.9%, with declines for major banks, including Canadian Imperial Bank of CommerceCM.TO, which ended 2.8% lower. - "Valuations for a lot of Canadian banks are at the extremes. Those sort of pressures tend to become acute whenever we're seeing broad risk-off tones reverberate," Rai said.
- The materials sector
.GSPTTMT, which includes metal mining shares, ended 3.7% lower. Gold lost 1.6% as the U.S. dollar benefited from rising rate hike expectations.




