North American markets tanked early and spent most of the day trying to make back that ground.
Lower energy shares helped pulled things down on Bay Street as oil prices fell with U.S. supply high, OPEC still making supply cuts, and the possibility looming of the U.S. putting sanctions back on Iran.
Canada’s trade deficit hit a record high in March, which also led to some caution for investors. The TSX closed the day at 15,621, down six points.
Similar story on Wall Street as investor sentiment was cautious following a Federal Reserve policy meeting that left an expectation of a rate increase next month and Chinese media reported Beijing would stand up to the U.S.’s “bullying”, such as tariffs. The Dow Jones was up a bit, five points, closing at 23,930.
Bank of Montreal is falling in line with Canada’s other big banks, raising its five-year fixed mortgage rate, among others, from 5.14 per cent to 5.19 per cent today. CIBC, TD, RBC, and National Bank of Canada have all raised mortgage rates in the last week.
At press time oil is up 54 cents to $68.47 U.S. per barrel, gold is up $6.70 to $1,312.30 an ounce, and the loonie is up a fifth of a cent to 77.78 cents U.S.
