The Canadian Vanguard Stock Market Report At Market Close – Wednesday, December 4, 2024
.
Follow us for Data-Driven Analysis and Insights To Guide Your Trading and Smart Investing
.
The Toronto Market
Today, the TSX composite was up a paltry 5.45 points or 0.02% to close the market session at 25,641.18. The TSX eked out a gain today after a real struggle to remain in the positive. The index opened the session about 100 points high but declined from the open until the last hour of the market session. Energy was down today and Energy is heavily weighted on the TSX, so it was a down day at the TSX. There was clearly no support for an upward move today. The index rallied up in the last hour, possibly in sympathy with the US markets indexes, from about 100 points down, to close 5 points positive.
The Market Spread: Five of the ten sectors were up and of course five were down today. It was an even split between the sectors. Technology was up 1.43%; Industrials was up 0.83%; Utilities was up 0.77%; Durable Consumer Goods & Services was up 0.37% and Financials was up 0.16%. Telecommunications Services and Basic Materials were each down -0.31%; Energy was down -1.14% and Discretionary Consumer Goods & Services was down -1.76%.
Industry Groups: Tires & Rubber Products was up a portfolio friendly 8%; Textiles & Leather Goods was up 5%; Commercial Services & Supplies was up 2%; Engineering & Construction was up 1.74% and Personal Services was up 1.71%. These last two industry groups rarely show up as market leaders.
Today’s Statistics: Today, the gaining issues (Advancers) outnumbered the declined issues (Decliners). There were seven Advancers for every five Decliners or an exact ratio of 1.39-to-1.0. In real numbers, there were 1,095 Advancers to 789 Decliners while 169 stocks remained Unchanged.
The total volume of shares traded at the TSX today was 411,750,884, 4% less when compared to the volume of 429,484,858 shares traded yesterday.
Today, there were 227 new 52-Week Highs and 6 new 52-Week Lows. By comparison, there were 277 new 52-Week Highs and 12 new 52-Week Lows yesterday.
.
The US Markets
The Dow Jones Index advanced 308.51 points or 0.69% to close at 45,014.04. The S&P 500 index gained 36.61 points or 0.61%, to close at 6,086.49. The Nasdaq Composite vaulted up 254.21 points or 1.30%, to close at 19,735.12. The Dow closed above the 45,000 level for the first time so this is a record. Nasdaq was up 1.3% – it is impressive when an index comprising hundreds of stocks gains over 1%. When a market index makes 1.3% gain, that has to be “better than impressive”. It is a day when a good number of investors will most likely be “smiling on their way to the bank”. The other good point to note is that with 31% increase in volume, today’s NASADQ performance will likely not end up as a one day special.
The Market Spread: The market breadth was shallow or below average as only four of the major sectors ended the session with gains. The sectors that were usually down the last two weeks came alive today with vigour. Technology, up 1.58%, led the sectors and dominated the news today – thanks to NVDA stock which was up 3.47% today after several sessions of simply marking time. Discretionary Consumer Goods & Services was up 0.94%; Industrials gained 0.37% and Utilities was up 0.05%. Healthcare was down -0.05%; Financials was down -0.17%; Discretionary Consumer Goods & Services was down -0.17%; Basic Materials was down -0.67%; Telecommunications Services was down -0.92% and Energy was down a hefty -2.00%. The market rally remains strong but the market today was dominated by Technology – almost one sided and lacking breadth. We were, at today’s market session, back to the glory days of the so called Magnificent Seven – made up exclusively of Technology stocks.
Industry Groups: Appliances, Tools & Housewares was up 3.70%; Consumer Electronics was up 2.53%, just a touch better than the industry did at the previous market session; Airlines was up 2.51%; Semiconductors was up 2.36% and Computer Hardware was up 2.28%.
Today’s Market Statistics: At the NYSE, the gaining issues (Advancers) outnumbered the declined issues (Decliners). There were five Advancers for every four Decliners or a precise ratio of 1.25-to-1.0. In actual numbers, there were 2,245 Advancers to 1,788 Decliners with 323 Unchanged.
Today, there were 375 new 52-Week Highs and 79 new 52-Week Lows. By comparison, yesterday, there were 310 new 52-Week Highs and 50 new 52-Week Lows.
The total volume of stocks traded at the NYSE today was 991,175,448 which is 3% more than the volume of 960,339,432 traded on Wednesday.
On the NASDAQ, the Advancers outnumbered the Decliners. Roughly, for every five Advancers there were four Decliners or a precise ratio of 1.30-to-1.0. In actual numbers, 2,470 Advancers to 1,893 Decliners with 244 Unchanged.
Today, there were 332 new 52-Week Highs but 116 new 52-Week Lows – a bullish reversal today. By comparison, yesterday there were 243 new 52-Week Highs but 98 new 52-Week Lows.
The total volume of shares traded at the NASDAQ today was 8,155,993,729, which is 31% more when compared to the volume of 6,221,640,683 shares traded yesterday.
Oil Price: U.S. crude oil prices fell 2% to $68.54 a barrel. Oil price was at $68.57 a barrel as at the time of posting this report.
10 –year Treasury Yield: The 10-year Treasury yield fell four basis points to 4.178% at market close, declining from the previous session’s close at 4.22% and after hitting 4.28% intraday. The five-year yield dropped to 4.06% from 4.106% at Tuesday’s market close.
.
Stocks In The News/Stocks To Watch
The US Markets
The big name in the news today was NVIDIA Corp (NVDA). The stock came alive today after about three weeks of short consolidation followed by a down trend. Today NVDA stock was up 3.48% or $4.88 to close the session at $145.14 with 231M shares changing hands. Few stocks, if any, are more liquid than that.
Bitcoin surged to over $100,000 today. Bitcoin remains of course, a pure speculative financial vehicle. Bitcoin does not hold value and one still cannot step out of the office to purchase the day’s lunch with it nor purchase the little Ford Fiesta car at the Ford dealership down the street. Today, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell compared Bitcoin with digital gold. Goldsmiths around the world regularly produce beautiful jewelry that one could purchase with real money but neither with digital gold nor with Bitcoin. Bitcoin remains speculative either physically or virtually. However, for our readers who have the stomach for such adventure or who wish to take the first steps in related investing we would suggest two stocks: Microstrategy Inc. (MSTR) and/or Coinbase Global (COIN) stocks. The two stocks practically track Bitcoin’s up and down high power gyrations but with good returns.
Today, MSTR stock was up 8.72% or $32.57 to close at $406.00 with 29.86M shares changing hands. 52 weeks ago, MSTR stock was at $43.87. The stock closed at $543.00 at one market session during the recent Trump rally – two weeks ago. That is 500% return in a little less than one year. Today, Coinbase Global stock was up 6.98% or $21.59 to close at $330.94 with 15.4 shares traded.
.
Regular Market Day Features
Beginner Investor’s (Canadian stocks) Watchlist
Blended Growth Stocks Watchlist
EV, Energy and Resource Stocks Watchlist
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Readers are reminded that the market’s performance at the following day’s market session may completely differ from the market performance at the overnight markets.
SUBSCRIPTION Offer: We thank you for following our Stock Market reports but please be aware that we shall soon be restricting these articles to subscribers only.
We do not send this publication by email to readers. If you receive a copy by email please simply forward the email to us.
Our reports are composed by humans after proper analysis and detailed research. It is neither AI nor machine generated. We do not, like AI, make things up.
