Category: US Markets

TSX Slips as Defensives Lead, Materials and Tech Lag

Canadian equities closed the week lower, as the S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.47% on a sharp decline in Materials and Technology even as Utilities, Financials and Energy held firm or gained. That split reflected a broader rotation toward safety rather than any flight from risk, with the Canadian dollar firming alongside a drop in the US 10-year yield. South of the border the Nasdaq led US benchmarks lower while the Russell 2000 bucked the trend, and Europe moved the other way entirely, with the DAX and STOXX Europe 600 both posting solid gains. Enerflex’s record bookings and dividend increase underscored the modest strength in Canadian energy shares. Ahead lies a heavy Canadian earnings slate topped by pipeline and utility names, alongside high-impact US payrolls, CPI and PPI data that will test whether this week’s defensive leadership holds.

The Week in Canadian Equities

The S&P/TSX Composite closed the week at 35,620.00, down 0.47% from 35,788.20 a week earlier. The headline move understates how split the index was underneath: Materials and Technology did most of the damage while Utilities, Financials and Energy either gained or held firm. The Canadian dollar firmed, with USD/CAD down 0.28% to 1.3973, a move that lines up with the US 10-year yield falling 5.9 basis points to 4.929% over the same period. Energy shares on the TSX added 0.41% even as the broader index slipped, a sign that commodity-linked names found support while growth-sensitive parts of the market did not.

The week’s defining theme was a shift toward safety rather than a flight from risk. Materials fell 3.62% and Technology fell 2.70%, the two weakest groups by a wide margin, while Utilities and Financials rose 1.33% and 1.19% respectively. The VIX barely moved, slipping 0.15% to 19.42, so this reads as a rotation within the market rather than a volatility event. Corporate news gave the week its one standout story: Enerflex (EFX.TO) reported Q3 Adjusted EBITDA of $129 million and Free Cash Flow of $102 million, alongside record Engineered Systems bookings of $1.0 billion and a roughly 17% dividend increase to US$0.035 per share. That combination of record bookings and a dividend hike is a vote of confidence in energy infrastructure demand, and it fits with Energy’s modest gain even as the broader cyclical complex lagged defensives for the week.

By Athena and Atlas

Sector and Style Leadership

Leadership on the S&P/TSX ran defensive this week. Utilities topped the table at 1.33%, followed by Financials at 1.19% and Energy at 0.41%. Materials was the laggard by a wide margin, down 3.62%, with Technology close behind at -2.70% and Real Estate off 1.55%. The average of cyclical sectors fell 0.68% against a roughly flat 0.15% decline for defensives, a gap of 0.53 points in favour of safety. The Materials slide did most of the damage to the cyclical side, far outweighing Energy’s small gain and Financials’ solid advance. With no growth or value style indices available for Canada, this sector split is the clearest read on how domestic investors positioned through the week.

The US sector table tells a different story. Every Select Sector SPDR advanced except Technology, down 2.03%, and Communication Services, down 5.32%, the steepest decline in either market. Health Care led at 3.12%, with Materials and Utilities also strong. The US cyclical and defensive averages came in close together at 1.72% and 1.97%, so the American rotation was less a cyclical-versus-defensive story and more a broad retreat from the two large-cap growth sectors. That matters for Canada because TSX Technology fell in sympathy, though the absence of a Canadian Communication Services measure means the comparison across the two markets is only partial.

By Athena

The United States and Europe

US benchmarks finished the week lower, led by the Nasdaq’s 2.00% decline to 25,437.00, with the S&P 500 off 0.57% to 7,580.07 and the Dow down 0.85% to 51,770.31. The Russell 2000 broke from that pattern, rising 1.29% to 2,811.84, suggesting smaller US companies held up better than the mega-caps that dominate the Nasdaq. Europe moved the other way entirely: the DAX gained 2.53% to 25,818.21, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 1.73% to 646.75, the Euro Stoxx 50 added 1.04% to 6,131.31 and the FTSE 100 was up 0.37% to 10,729.80.

The US 10-year yield eased to 4.929%, and the VIX held near flat at 19.42, so the Nasdaq’s slide does not look like a volatility scare. For a Canadian investor, the split between a weaker Nasdaq and a stronger Russell 2000 and European market echoes the TSX’s own tilt away from Technology and Materials toward Financials and Utilities. Large-cap growth lost ground this week while smaller caps, cyclicals outside tech, and Europe gained, and the lower US yield lines up with the Canadian dollar’s modest strength against the greenback.

By Athena

Earnings and Corporate News

The clearest corporate story of the week was Enerflex (EFX.TO), which reported Q3 2026 results for the period ended September 30: Adjusted EBITDA of $129 million, Free Cash Flow of $102 million, return on capital employed of 15.8%, record Engineered Systems bookings of $1.0 billion and a backlog of $2.1 billion. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by roughly 17% to US$0.035 per share and pointed to a behind-the-meter natural gas-fired power generation backlog that now exceeds 1.75 gigawatts. Record bookings alongside a dividend increase signals confidence in forward demand for energy infrastructure and services, consistent with the TSX Energy sector’s modest 0.41% gain for the week even as broader cyclicals lagged.

Options positioning around large Canadian financials points to a relatively calm near-term setup. CM.TO sits close to a gamma flip level that could matter for short-horizon swings, with RY.TO, TD.TO and BAM.TO also near their flip points, meaning dealer hedging is likely to dampen rather than amplify moves in those names. AEM.TO, SHOP.TO and SLF.TO show the opposite pattern, with less dealer dampening and more room for open-ended moves in either direction. Investors holding the large banks should expect range-bound behaviour around those levels, while AEM.TO, SHOP.TO and SLF.TO warrant closer attention as the names most likely to move outside their recent range.

By Athena

The Week Ahead

The coming two weeks bring a heavy Canadian earnings calendar: 70 companies report in the week of November 2, including AQN.TO, BCE.TO, CNQ.TO, CVE.TO, ENB.TO, FTS.TO, EMA.TO, CU.TO and CAR-UN.TO among the tracked names, spanning energy, utilities, telecom and real estate. A further 25 companies report the week of November 9, including ABX.TO, BN.TO, CTC-A.TO, POW.TO, H.TO and GIB-A.TO. With pipeline and utility names prominent in the first week, investors will be watching whether this week’s defensive leadership in Utilities and Financials carries through into actual results.

On the data side, the US calendar carries the main scheduled event risk: the Employment Situation report on November 6, the Consumer Price Index on November 10 and the Producer Price Index on November 13, all high-impact releases that will shape the path of US yields and, by extension, the Canadian dollar and TSX sentiment. That follows a week in which US data came in firm, with Advance GDP at 3.4% above forecast and unemployment claims at 194K below forecast, so the bar for the payrolls and inflation releases is not low. No dated Canadian releases are listed in this window, though Statistics Canada’s inflation, Labour Force Survey and monthly GDP reports are due on their usual monthly rhythm and will matter once scheduled.

By Athena

Herald Chief Publishing Officer Written by Herald, with Athena and Atlas Equities Weekly · Sunday, November 01, 2026 · Weekly equities summary

TSX Slips as Defensives Lead a Cautious Rotation

The S&P/TSX Composite closed the week lower, as investors rotated out of Materials and Technology and into steadier, income-oriented names. Utilities, Financials and Energy led the index, while Materials and Technology bore the brunt of the pullback, a defensive tilt reinforced by a rising VIX and a sharp drop in crypto sentiment into Fear territory. The move diverged from Europe, where the DAX, STOXX Europe 600 and Euro Stoxx 50 all posted solid gains, and from the United States, where the Nasdaq led benchmarks lower even as the Russell 2000 and most sectors advanced. Canadian dollar strength and a dip in US Treasury yields rounded out a week defined more by positioning than by a single headline. Attention now turns to a heavy run of Canadian earnings, led by Enbridge, Canadian Natural Resources and BCE, alongside US payrolls, CPI and PPI data that could confirm or unwind this week’s defensive rotation.

The Week in Canadian Equities

The S&P/TSX Composite closed the week at 35,620.00, down 0.47% from 35,788.20 a week earlier. The decline was modest set against sharper moves in Materials and Technology beneath the surface, and it came even as the Canadian dollar firmed slightly, with USD/CAD down 0.28% to 1.3973. There is nothing in the week’s corporate disclosures that speaks directly to the Canadian market: the filings flagged this week, from Ingersoll Rand, T1 Energy, Citizens Financial Group and Xcel Energy, are US company-specific items with limited read-through north of the border. The clearer story sits in the sector numbers themselves. Investors rotated away from the resource and growth names that had led earlier gains, favouring steadier, income-oriented exposure instead, a pattern that fits with a market growing more cautious rather than one reacting to a single headline. That caution shows up in sentiment too: the VIX climbed from a low of 16.68 at the start of the period to a high of 19.45 before settling at 19.42, and the crypto fear and greed index fell sharply from 63 to 30, now firmly in Fear territory. Neither move points to panic, but together they mark a shift in tone from the start of the month. For a Canadian investor, the takeaway is that the index-level decline understates the rotation underneath it: this was a week where positioning mattered more than direction, and the defensive tilt in both sentiment gauges and sector leadership is worth carrying into the weeks ahead.

By Athena and Atlas

Sector and Style Leadership

Leadership on the S&P/TSX Composite this week ran defensive. Utilities topped the table at +1.33%, followed by Financials at +1.19% and Energy at +0.41%, while Consumer Staples was roughly flat at -0.22%. The laggards were Real Estate (-1.55%), Technology (-2.70%) and Materials (-3.62%), the latter the worst performer on the board by a wide margin. Averaging the sector indices, cyclical sectors (Energy, Financials, Materials, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary) fell 0.68% while defensives (Utilities, Health Care, Consumer Staples, Real Estate) were down a smaller 0.15%, a gap of 0.53 points in favour of defensives. There are no growth or value style indices for Canada, so this cyclical-defensive split is the clearest read on positioning available, and it points to a market de-risking rather than chasing the resource and technology names that had carried the index earlier in the year. The pattern breaks sharply from the United States, where nine of eleven sectors posted gains: Health Care led at +3.12% and Materials followed at +2.79%, while Technology (-2.03%) and Communication Services (-5.32%) were the only decliners. US cyclicals rose 1.72% on average and US defensives rose 1.97%, both positive, a contrast with Canada where cyclicals were negative. The one shared thread is Technology weakness on both sides of the border, but in Canada that weakness combined with the Materials slide to outweigh the gains in Utilities and Financials, while in the US broader sector strength more than absorbed the Technology and Communication Services losses.

By Athena

The United States and Europe

US benchmarks were mixed to lower this week, a contrast with the broad-based gains across European markets. The Nasdaq fell 2.00% to 25,437.00, the steepest decline among major indices, while the Dow eased 0.85% to 51,770.31 and the S&P 500 slipped 0.57% to 7,580.07. The Russell 2000 broke from that pattern, rising 1.29% to 2,811.84, a sign that smaller-cap names outperformed large-cap technology and growth exposure over the week. Europe moved the opposite way: the DAX gained 2.53% to 25,818.21, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 1.73% to 646.75, the Euro Stoxx 50 added 1.04% to 6,131.31 and the FTSE 100 was up a smaller 0.37% to 10,729.80. The US 10-year yield fell 5.9 basis points to 4.929%, consistent with some easing in rate pressure even as equity performance diverged sharply by region. The VIX ended at 19.42, little changed on the week itself but up from a low of 16.68 earlier in the period, pointing to a modest rise in hedging demand. For Canadian investors, the split between weak US technology performance and firmer European and small-cap results echoes the TSX’s own split between weak Technology and Materials and firmer Financials and Utilities, reinforcing a broader theme of rotation out of growth-sensitive names this week, one that Canadian portfolios with heavy resource and technology weighting should watch closely.

By Athena

Earnings and Corporate News

This week’s corporate disclosures centred on US names with limited direct bearing on Canadian equities, but two carry lessons worth noting. Xcel Energy (XEL) put in place a new $6.0 billion at-the-market equity program, replacing its prior facility, with roughly $3.8 billion already committed under outstanding forward sale agreements, a sizable issuance capacity that points to continued heavy capital spending in the US utility sector and bears watching for share-count dilution, a dynamic relevant to Canadian investors holding utility exposure given Utilities was the top-performing TSX sector this week. Ingersoll Rand (IR) disclosed the retirement of SVP Michael Weatherred alongside an amended employment agreement for CEO Vicente Reynal that includes a planned Nov 23, 2026 grant of 226,098 performance share units valued at approximately $17.1 million, tied to earnings growth goals running from 2027 through 2031, a governance and succession item rather than an operational signal. Elsewhere, T1 Energy (TE) registered 13,440,860 shares for resale tied to conversion of an additional $50.0 million of its 4.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2031, with no new capital raised, and Citizens Financial Group (CFG) dismissed Deloitte & Touche as its auditor effective after the FY2026 audits, engaging PricewaterhouseCoopers for fiscal 2027, with no disagreements cited. None of these change the operating picture for their sectors, but the Xcel Energy equity program is the one with the clearest read-through for income-oriented investors watching utility balance sheets.

By Athena

The Week Ahead

The Canadian earnings calendar picks up materially next week, with 70 companies reporting in the week of November 2, including Enbridge (ENB.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO), BCE (BCE.TO) and Fortis (FTS.TO) among the tracked names, followed by a further 25 companies in the week of November 9 including Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), Brookfield Corporation (BN.TO) and Power Corporation (POW.TO), results that will test whether the defensive leadership in Utilities, Financials and Energy seen this week has fundamental support. That earnings run follows a week in which Core PCE came in line with forecast at 0.3%, unemployment claims undershot at 194K, and Advance GDP beat at 3.4%, a combination pointing to resilient growth without a fresh inflation scare, a backdrop that should matter as US data resumes with the Employment Situation report on Friday, November 6, the Consumer Price Index on Tuesday, November 10, and the Producer Price Index on Friday, November 13, all high-impact releases that will shape rate expectations on both sides of the border. No dated Canadian economic releases fall in this window, though Statistics Canada inflation, Labour Force Survey and monthly GDP data are due on their usual monthly rhythm and will matter for Bank of Canada expectations once published.

By Athena

Herald Chief Publishing Officer Written by Herald, with Athena and Atlas Equities Weekly · Saturday, October 31, 2026 · Weekly equities summary

Materials Selloff Drags TSX as Central Banks, Earnings Loom

Canadian equities closed the week lower, with the S&P/TSX Composite down 1.07% to 35,788.20 as a collapse in Materials overwhelmed gains elsewhere on the board, while Financials and Energy both advanced and the Canadian dollar strengthened against the US dollar. South of the border, the Dow and Russell 2000 held up or gained even as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped, and Europe fared worse still, with the Euro Stoxx 50, DAX and FTSE 100 all down more sharply than Canada. Volatility actually eased over the week despite the pullback, and the US 10-year yield fell alongside a firmer loonie. The week ahead brings decisions from the Bank of Canada, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, key US growth and employment data, and the first wave of Canadian earnings, including CNR.TO, CVE.TO, MG.TO and QSR.TO, all of which could determine whether this week’s damage stays contained to Materials or spreads further.

The Week in Canadian Equities

The S&P/TSX Composite closed the week at 35,788.20, down 1.07% from 36,176.60 a week earlier. That decline was driven almost entirely by one sector, Materials, which collapsed over the week and is covered in detail in the sector section below, dragging the headline index lower even as Financials and Energy both advanced. The Canadian dollar strengthened, with USD/CAD down 0.82% to 1.4004 from 1.4119, moving in the same direction as the US 10-year yield, which fell 11.0 basis points to 4.988%. Energy still managed a gain of 0.55% for the week even with a firmer loonie, which points to support in Canadian crude-linked names rather than currency-driven weakness. Volatility expectations did not mirror the equity pullback: the VIX eased 2.70% to 19.45, well below the 19.99 level it touched earlier in the period, even though it sat above where it started on October 14 at 16.87. The net effect is a market that looks calmer than its headline index suggests, with the damage concentrated rather than broad. Two threads define the week for Canadian investors heading into the close: a materials-led drag that masked gains elsewhere on the board, and a currency and yield move that, if it persists, could ease some of the pressure facing rate-sensitive sectors. Both threads will be tested quickly, with the Bank of Canada and the US Federal Reserve both due to announce decisions within days, and a wave of Canadian earnings, including heavyweight energy and rail names, arriving the same week.

By Athena and Atlas

Sector and Style Leadership

Beneath the S&P/TSX Composite’s 1.07% weekly decline, sector performance split cleanly into two camps. Financials led the index, up 0.93%, with Energy close behind at 0.55%; Technology and Utilities also finished positive, up 0.25% and 0.14% respectively, and Real Estate was essentially flat at -0.06%. Materials was the week’s defining move, down 8.54%, a loss large enough on its own to explain the broader index’s decline, while Consumer Staples also lagged, down 1.13%. Averaged together, cyclical sectors (Energy, Financials, Materials) fell 2.35% as a group against a much smaller 0.35% decline for defensives (Utilities, Consumer Staples, Real Estate), a two-point gap in favour of defensive positioning. That gap tells a cautious story, except that it was driven almost entirely by Materials rather than a uniform cyclical retreat, since Financials and Energy both bucked the pattern and posted gains. Canada has no growth or value benchmark against which to measure this further. In the United States, the defensive tilt was more consistent: Health Care and Real Estate both posted solid gains alongside Energy at the top of the table, while Communication Services fell 4.36%, the steepest sector decline on either side of the border apart from Canadian Materials, and Industrials also lagged, down 1.87%. The pattern common to both markets is a tape that rewarded defensives and punished a small number of concentrated laggards rather than selling cyclicals broadly.

By Athena

The United States and Europe

US benchmarks held up better than Canada’s this week, though the picture was mixed. The Dow added 0.41% to 52,215.16, the S&P 500 slipped 0.47% to 7,623.68 and the Nasdaq eased 0.71% to 25,955.34, while the Russell 2000 stood out with a 2.00% gain to 2,775.90, suggesting smaller US companies found support even as large caps drifted. Europe was softer across the board and more so than North America: the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 2.19% to 6,068.22, the DAX dropped 1.72% to 25,181.65, the FTSE 100 lost 1.76% to 10,690.40, and the STOXX Europe 600 declined 1.39% to 635.77. Volatility eased despite the softer tape, with the VIX down 2.70% to 19.45, and the US 10-year yield fell 11.0 basis points to 4.988%, a move that tends to ease pressure on rate-sensitive sectors on both sides of the border. For the Canadian investor, the S&P/TSX Composite’s 1.07% decline sits between Europe’s steeper losses and the more resilient large-cap US picture, while the Russell 2000’s strength indicates that risk appetite for smaller companies has not disappeared, even as the week’s selling pressure concentrated in specific pockets, mega-cap communication names in the US and Materials in Canada, rather than spreading broadly.

By Athena

Earnings and Corporate News

The clearest corporate story touching Canadian energy investors this week came from offshore drilling: Transocean Ltd. (RIG) filed confirming that shareholder votes on its stock-for-stock acquisition of Valaris, at an exchange ratio of 15.235 Transocean shares per Valaris share, are scheduled for November 24, 2026, with a Bermuda court Sanction Hearing set for November 26, 2026. That consolidation signals continued rationalization in offshore services even as the TSX Energy sector itself posted a modest 0.55% gain for the week. On the financing side, two large US issuers locked in funding at current rates: Workday, Inc. (WDAY) completed a $2.5 billion public offering of senior notes across four tranches maturing in 2029, 2031, 2033 and 2036, with coupons ranging from 5.700% to 6.500%, while Bank of America Corp (BAC) issued 80,000 shares of new 7.200% Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series WW, raising $2.0 billion at a $25,000 per-share liquidation preference. Both deals show large issuers willing to term out debt despite yields still sitting near 4.988% on the US 10-year. Closer to home, positioning commentary flagged AEM.TO, NTR.TO and BCE.TO as prone to more volatile, directional trading, while TD.TO, RY.TO and BMO.TO were flagged as likely to trade in a tighter range, a distinction worth watching as Canadian earnings season gathers pace next week.

By Athena

The Week Ahead

Central banks dominate the week ahead. The Bank of Canada delivers its decision on Wednesday, October 28, alongside the Monetary Policy Report, the same day the US Federal Reserve announces its own decision, with the European Central Bank following on Thursday, October 29. On the US data side, the Advance Estimate of third-quarter GDP and the Personal Income and Outlays report land Thursday, October 29, both high-impact, followed by the Employment Cost Index on Friday, October 30, and the Employment Situation report, including nonfarm payrolls, on Friday, November 6. These arrive after US jobless claims came in at 194K for the week, below the 200K forecast and down from 199K previously, a data point that will feed into how the Fed’s decision is read. No dated Canadian releases appear in this window, though Statistics Canada’s monthly inflation, Labour Force Survey and GDP reports remain due on their usual rhythm. Canadian earnings pick up materially: 24 tracked companies report in the week of October 26, including CNR.TO, CVE.TO, MG.TO and QSR.TO, and 68 more follow in the week of November 2, including ENB.TO, BCE.TO, CNQ.TO, BAM.TO and FTS.TO, results that will matter directly for a market still working through the Materials-led pullback and a rebalancing between cyclical and defensive positioning.

By Athena

Herald Chief Publishing Officer Written by Herald, with Athena and Atlas Equities Weekly · Saturday, October 24, 2026 · Weekly equities summary

TSX Rides Energy and Financials as Tech Slide Hits Wall Street

Canadian equities closed the week firmly higher, with the S&P/TSX Composite up 2.93% as Energy and Financials, the index’s two biggest weights, led the advance alongside a firmer loonie. Consumer Staples also stood out on both sides of the border, while Technology fell sharply in the United States and dragged the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 lower even as the Dow held up. Europe moved with Canada rather than with US technology, as the FTSE 100, DAX and STOXX Europe 600 all posted solid gains. The strength came alongside rising volatility, with the VIX up sharply and crypto sentiment cooling from greed toward neutral. Attention now turns to the Bank of Canada and US Federal Reserve decisions on October 28 and the European Central Bank the following day, which will test whether this week’s rotation toward commodities and banks can extend, alongside Statistics Canada’s upcoming inflation, jobs and GDP readings.

The Week in Canadian Equities

The S&P/TSX Composite closed the week at 36,176.60, up 2.93% from 35,145.40 a week earlier, among the stronger weekly gains of the benchmarks covered here. The advance was carried by Energy and Financials, the index’s two biggest weights, with Energy up 7.46% and Financials up 3.68%, and it came with a firmer currency: USD/CAD fell 0.86% to 1.4137 from 1.4259, consistent with foreign capital finding the Canadian market attractive this week rather than fleeing it. What makes the week notable is that this strength ran alongside rising volatility rather than calm. The VIX jumped 34.70% to 19.99 from 14.84, and the crypto fear and greed index slid to 53 (Neutral) from 64 at the start of the period, a sign that broader risk appetite cooled even as Canadian equities pushed higher. That is the defining tension of the week: a resilient, commodity and bank-led TSX against a backdrop of climbing volatility measures elsewhere. The strength was not universal across the index. Materials was the one sector to lose ground, down 0.09%, and Technology barely moved, up 0.78%, so the headline gain rests on a narrower base than the index-level number suggests. For a Canadian investor the takeaway is that the composition that often lags in risk-off periods, heavy in energy and financials, worked in this one, and the firmer loonie suggests that support was not confined to a single corner of the market. Whether that strength broadens beyond two sectors is the open question heading into next week.

By Athena and Atlas

Sector and Style Leadership

Leadership on the S&P/TSX Composite this week was concentrated at the top: Consumer Staples led with a 7.47% gain and Energy followed almost in lockstep at 7.46%, well clear of Financials in third at 3.68%. Real Estate and Utilities added more modest gains of 2.08% and 2.03%, Technology rose just 0.78%, and Materials was the only sector to fall, down 0.09%. Averaged across the sectors available for Canada, defensives gained 3.86% against 3.68% for cyclicals, a gap of 0.18 points. That margin is narrower than it looks, since Energy, a cyclical sector, was the second-best performer of the week; the defensive tilt owes almost entirely to Consumer Staples rather than to any broad retreat from cyclical names. Canada has no growth or value style indices, so sector leadership is the clearest lens on positioning available here. The US pattern rhymes but runs sharper: Consumer Staples (+5.02%) and Energy (+4.86%) also led, while Technology fell 7.70%, pulling the US cyclical average down to 1.62% against 2.93% for defensives, a wider spread than in Canada. The shared thread is that Consumer Staples and Energy outperformed in both markets while Technology lagged everywhere, but the TSX’s far smaller technology weighting meant that lag barely dented the Canadian index, where Technology still posted a positive week.

By Athena

The United States and Europe

The Dow added 0.67% to 52,002.41, holding up much as Canadian equities did, while the S&P 500 fell 1.95% to 7,659.44, the Nasdaq dropped 4.48% to 26,140.03, and the Russell 2000 declined 3.05% to 2,721.37. That spread reflects the technology-led weakness already visible in the sector data, and it is the reason the Dow’s old-economy composition tracked Canada’s commodity and bank-led strength while the more growth-heavy Nasdaq did not. Europe moved with Canada rather than with the Nasdaq: the FTSE 100 rose 3.13% to 10,881.90, the DAX rose 2.13% to 25,622.61, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 2.09% to 644.74, and the Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.50% to 6,204.23. Volatility rose through the week as the technology-led US weakness played out, with the VIX up 34.70% to 19.99, while the US 10-year yield fell 14.6 basis points to 5.098%, a decline that eased alongside the equity moves rather than against them. For a Canadian investor, the lesson is that this week’s winners, Canada, Europe and the Dow, shared a value and commodity tilt, while the losers shared technology exposure, a split that favoured the TSX’s own composition.

By Athena

Earnings and Corporate News

Corporate disclosures this week were administrative rather than operational, and none of them moved the sector patterns described elsewhere in this report. SentinelOne (S) completed a private offering of $1,250,000,000 in 0.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2031, including the full exercise of the initial purchasers’ option, a financing step that raises capital without signalling anything about demand for its security products. Paychex (PAYX) amended its revolving credit agreement, lifting total commitments to $750.0 million from $400.0 million and pushing the maturity out to October 15, 2031, a balance-sheet move rather than a read on its payroll and HR business. Costco (COST) disclosed its fiscal 2027 executive bonus structure, including a $1.2 million CEO target tied to sales, pre-tax income and environmental and social metrics, and Builders FirstSource (BLDR) filed the compensation terms for an incoming Chief Operating Officer, with a $675,000 base salary effective January 1, 2027. None of these four items carries an earnings surprise or a demand signal for investors to act on. The more useful read on corporate fortunes this week came from the sector moves themselves: Consumer Staples and Energy led gains in both Canada and the United States while Technology fell 7.70% in the US, a divide that says more about where capital rotated this week than any single company filing.

By Athena

The Week Ahead

Two central-bank decisions dominate the coming two weeks and both matter directly for the TSX and the loonie. The Bank of Canada decides on Wednesday, October 28, at 09:45 ET, releasing its decision alongside the Monetary Policy Report, the same day the US Federal Reserve announces its decision at 14:00 ET. The European Central Bank follows on Thursday, October 29, at 14:15 Frankfurt time. Investors will be watching whether the Bank of Canada’s tone reflects the strength seen in last week’s US data, where Retail Sales rose 0.8% against a 0.3% forecast, Core Retail Sales rose 0.9% against 0.6% expected, and Core PPI rose 0.7% against a 0.3% forecast, all firmer than anticipated and a reminder that inflation pressure has not fully faded even as US yields have eased. No dated Canadian economic releases appear in the two-week window from current listings, though Statistics Canada’s monthly inflation, Labour Force Survey and GDP reports are due on their usual monthly rhythm and will shape how the Bank of Canada frames its decision. With the TSX having outperformed this week on Energy and Financials strength, the Bank of Canada’s rate decision and updated forecasts are the single most consequential scheduled event for Canadian equity investors in the period ahead.

By Athena

Herald Chief Publishing Officer Written by Herald, with Athena and Atlas Equities Weekly · Sunday, October 18, 2026 · Weekly equities summary