Commodities Fall While Markets Rise

Despite its early day attempts, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) closed in the red on Wednesday (April 11) as it hit 15,257.9, dropping 4.24 points along the way.

The index launched back into the green on Thursday (April 12) morning as it gathered 40.86 points to reach 15,298.76.

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) landed in the green at Wednesday’s close, ending the day at 777.71 with a 1.57-point boost. It continued to make progress on Thursday morning as it grew 3.56 points to reach 781.27.

While Canadian indexes lost traction in subgroups like consumer staples, down 0.3 percent, financials, down 0.8 percent, and information technology, down 1.2 percent, they found solace in gold, energy and materials stocks. Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX) grew 2.2 percent, while Suncor Energy (TSX:SU,NYSE:SU) picked up 2.1 percent and Pretium Resources (TSX:PVG,NYSE:PVG) gained 18.8 percent, making it one of the TSX’s shining stars on Wednesday.

Falling from grace was the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI), which took a 218.55-point hit on Wednesday to close at 24,189.45. The index rebounded Thursday morning when it gained 311.63 points to reach 24,501.08.

The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) fell flat on Wednesday as it hit 2,642.19 with a 14.68-point loss. Thursday morning saw the S&P get a much-needed boost as it picked up 27.94 points to hit 2,670.13.

Drops in financials and telecommunications dragged down the S&P, as both sectors fell over 1 percent. Meanwhile, tweets from US President Donald Trump about a potential missile strike on Syria, which teased Russia in the process, sent stocks tumbling, with Boeing (NYSE:BA) taking a 2.2-percent hit.

Note: All numbers shown above were accurate as of 10:00 a.m. EST.

Daily metals

Gold took a breath and calmed down on Wednesday as it closed at US$1,352.80 per ounce. It took a nasty tumble to US$1,339.86 on Thursday morning. While silver also had a strong Wednesday, closing at US$16.67 per ounce, it hit a snag on Thursday and fell to US$16.52.

Copper began to settle on Wednesday when it closed at US$3.12 per pound. Like gold and silver, copper suffered on Thursday morning as it hit US$3.06.

Major miner news

• Barrick Gold: The company announced its preliminary production results for Q1, reporting output of 1.05 million ounces of gold and 85 million pounds of copper. It also released preliminary first-quarter sales of 1.07 million ounces of gold and 85 million pounds of copper.

• SSR Mining (TSX:SSRM,NASDAQ:SSRM): With results coming from its three mines, SSR Mining announced its Q1 production results for 2018. Highlights include production of 42,960 ounces of gold and a near-record 7.1 million tonnes of ore at the Marigold mine, as well as record quarterly throughput at the Seabee operation of 93,269 tonnes, or 1,036 tonnes per day, for 23,717 ounces of gold production. SSR’s Puna operation recorded 0.9 million ounces of silver.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.