TSX Closer: Index Closes Lower as Financials Slide, Energy Gains on Oil Rally
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed sharply lower on Wednesday as losses in financial stocks outweighed gains in energy, while investors digested the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged and monitored escalating tensions in the Middle East.The index closed down 415.92 points, or 1.16%, at 35,333.78, with most sectors down. Energy led gainers, up 3.16%, while Financial led decliners, down 2.93%.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed higher on Wednesday, reversing three days of declines after the Federal Reserve opted not to raise interest rates. Moreover, prices rose after President Donald Trump said Tuesday night that the US would respond "hard" to an attempted surprise attack by Iran on American forces in the Middle East.September WTI crude oil contract closed up $5.20, or 6.6%, and settled at $84.46 per barrel, while September Brent oil last was seen up $6.79, or 8.1%, at $90.88.Iran fired a barrage of missiles at US forces in the Middle East, while the US military, in coordination with Saudi Arabia, launched strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq.Meanwhile, in commodities, gold was last seen up 0.30%, or $12.00, to $4,050.70.The Federal Open Market Committee held the policy rate steady at the target range of 3.50%-3.75% for a fifth consecutive meeting. The move was mostly expected by market participants, TD Economics said in a note.The post-meeting statement was the same as the June release. Economic growth is still characterized as "solid", job growth has "kept pace with the workforce" and inflation continues to be characterized as "elevated", TD noted.Meanwhile, investors continued to assess the potential economic impact of US trade policy on Canada.Last week's US tariff threats would raise Canada's export tariff burden, but their impact remains uneven across industries and regions, National Bank of Canada said in a Wednesday note.A broad tariff increase doesn't imply an equally large impact across all sectors, as exemptions for many Canadian natural resource exports mean the national average understates where the economic effects are likely to be concentrated, said National Bank.In corporate news, Intact Financial (IFC.TO) closed down 6.62% at C$284.80 after it reported lower Q2 earnings that were due to higher catastrophe losses in Canada and large losses mainly due commercial fires in the United Kingdom.Separately, Toromont Industries (TIH.TO) closed down 1.16% at C$206.81 after reporting flat second-quarter earnings of C$1.53 per share, unchanged from a year earlier.