Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 19, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba B6 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM BUSINESS I STOCKS FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2024 Fewer foreign buyers for U.S. homes with market in record slump LOS ANGELES — Sales of U.S. homes to Chinese, Canadian and other foreign buyers have fallen to the lowest level in more than a decade, hampered by a strong U.S. dollar and more hurdles that have kept the housing market in a deep sales slump for over two years. Some 54,300 previously occupied U.S. homes were purchased by non-U.S. cit- izens in the 12 months ending in March, according to a report this week by the National Association of Realtors. That’s the fewest homes sold to for- eign nationals in data going back to 2009. Sales were down about 36 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier. Those transactions from April 2023 through March of this year totalled US$42 billion, a 21.2 per cent decline from the prior-year period, NAR said. “International buyers face the same difficult market challenges as domes- tic buyers — lack of inventory, higher mortgage rates, the affordability con- dition,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “On top of that, for many international buyers the stronger dollar was not in their favour.” The U.S. housing market has been stuck in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from COVID-19 pandemic-era lows. Existing home sales sank to a nearly 30-year low last year as the average rate on a 30- year mortgage surged to a 23-year high of 7.79 per cent, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. The average rate has mostly hov- ered around seven per cent, limiting home shoppers’ purchasing power. At the same time, the supply of homes for sale, though rising in recent months, re- mains close to historic lows. That’s kept the market competitive enough to lift home prices to new highs. Among the foreign nationals who bought a U.S. home in the 12 months ending in March of this year, buyers from China accounted for 11 per cent of purchases, matching Mexico, NAR said. Home shoppers from Canada topped the list with 13 per cent. — The Associated Press European Central Bank leaves key interest rate at 3.75% FRANKFURT, Germany — The Euro- pean Central Bank left its key interest rate benchmark unchanged Thursday as its rate-setting council and president Christine Lagarde take their time to make sure stubborn inflation is firm- ly under control before lowering rates again. The decision leaves the deposit rate at 3.75 per cent, where it has stood af- ter a single quarter-point cut rate at the previous meeting June 6. That means home buyers and busi- nesses hoping for lower interest rates in Europe are going to have to wait at least until the bank’s September meeting for more affordable credit — and possibly even longer than that. Lagarde would not commit to a rate cut even at the Sept. 12 meeting, saying “the question of September and what do we do in September, is wide open and will be determined on the basis of all the data that we will be receiving” ahead of the meeting. Lagarde was asked at her post-de- cision news conference about the po- tential impact of higher U.S. tariffs on imports if former president Donald Trump returns as president in the Nov- ember election. “I’m not going to specu- late on political developments,”she said. “Of course, we have to take into ac- count the consequences of, for instance, the increase in tariffs or policies that are determined, outside of the euro area by any country with which we have either strong trade or financial links.” She added “Obviously, given the size of the U.S. financial markets in particu- lar, the developments taking place in the United States will be very carefully assessed to see what consequences it might have on the European Union and on the euro area in particular.” The ECB’s stance for now resembles that of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is expected to hold off lowering rates at its next meeting July 30-31, though the Fed appears closer to cutting rates af- ter that than is the ECB. Inflation in the euro zone has fallen from a peak of 11.6 per cent in October 2022 to 2.5 per cent in June, slowly ap- proaching the ECB’s goal of two per cent. — The Associated Press Anglo’s plan to sell De Beers complicated by diamond output cut A NGLO American Plc is looking at more diamond production cuts as the industry continues to strug- gle, complicating its plan to sell the De Beers unit as part of a radical overhaul of its business. Anglo announced the restructuring earlier this year as part of a success- ful rebuttal of a US$49 billion approach from BHP Group, the world’s the big- gest miner. That plan centred around exiting dia- mond mining by spinning off or selling its De Beers unit, separating platinum and selling its coal mines. Yet, the miner is facing headwinds at all those businesses. A fire and ex- plosion at its flagship coal mine in Australia has complicated that sale process, while the diamond market con- tinues to languish, deterring potential buyers of the unit. Anglo also signaled a further profit slump at its platinum business today. While Anglo maintained its produc- tion target for now at De Beers, the company said it’s looking at how it can reduce output further. The company would prefer to wait for a recovery in the diamond market, as the internal view at the company is De Beers should command a price that re- flects its status as a trophy asset. Yet, that recovery, which the com- pany already expected to be slow, is showing little signs of gathering pace. The market came to an almost com- plete halt last year as weak global de- mand combined with too much supply. That’s continued this year with poor demand from the crucial Chinese mar- ket, adding to existing pressures from lab grown gems and inflation-hit con- sumers. The company lowered its full-year diamond target in April to between 26 million and 29 million carats. It will now likely reduce that further. “With higher than normal levels of inventory remaining in the midstream and an expectation for a protracted recovery, we are therefore actively assessing options with our partners to further reduce production to manage our working capital and preserve cash,” Anglo said. Anglo’s Johannesburg-listed platin- um unit — which is set to be spun out of the 107-year-old group under the re- structuring plan — continued to battle low metal prices. Anglo American Platinum Ltd. said Thursday first-half earnings likely fell as much as 25 per cent from a year ear- lier. That comes after profit at the com- pany known as Amplats slumped by 83 per cent in 2023. Amplats is gearing up to become a standalone company, with Anglo’s con- trolling interest to be distributed to its shareholders. It coincides with a period of cost-cutting in response to weak prices in so-called platinum-group metals. Pal- ladium and rhodium have slumped 44 per cent and 63 per cent, respectively, since the beginning of last year. — Bloomberg News THOMAS BIESHEUVEL AND WILLIAM CLOWES SIMON DAWSON / BLOOMBERG FILES De Beers is expected to further reduce its diamond target, which was lowered once already in April, complicating plans to sell the operation. Agnico Eagle Mines L 102.75 -0.59 707 105.41 59.36 Alamos Gold Inc. 23.47 -0.18 2,014 24.50 14.80 AltaGas Ltd. 31.01 0.11 666 31.50 24.02 ARC Resources Ltd. 23.70 0.18 1,812 26.17 18.02 AtkinsRealis Group I 57.31 0.84 250 60.55 35.25 Bank of Montreal 118.99 -0.43 2,506 133.95 102.67 Bank of Nova Scotia 64.92 0.08 3,570 70.40 55.20 Barrick Gold Corpora 25.42 -0.43 7,062 26.58 18.65 BCE Inc. 45.73 0.07 2,750 59.22 42.58 BMO MSCI EAFE Index 23.21 -0.19 12 23.57 19.11 BMO S&P 500 Index ET 83.07 -0.53 399 84.71 62.27 BMO S&P/TSX Capped C 30.40 -0.17 79 30.75 25.04 Brookfield Infrastru 41.80 -0.90 866 47.79 29.12 Brookfield Renewable 33.44 -0.55 206 39.90 27.43 CAE Inc. 25.51 -0.62 466 33.87 23.74 Cameco Corporation 63.68 -1.35 1,424 76.66 41.11 Canadian Apartment P 47.90 -0.14 422 54.60 40.52 Canadian Imperial Ba 68.66 0.23 2,973 69.54 47.44 Canadian National Ra 166.08 -2.29 1,179 181.34 143.13 Canadian Natural Res 48.92 0.09 14,631 56.50 36.82 Canadian Pacific Kan 114.27 -0.63 1,516 123.37 94.45 Canadian Tire Corpor 140.27 -0.21 135 189.82 126.25 Canadian Tire Corpor 210.00 0.00 0 300.00 202.50 Canadian Utilities L 30.56 0.17 358 34.45 28.13 CCL Industries Inc. 74.06 -0.43 0 77.15 53.01 CCL Industries Inc. 72.93 -0.86 167 74.49 52.82 Cenovus Energy Inc. 27.71 -0.36 5,302 29.96 19.82 CGI Inc. Class A Sub 145.95 -0.53 280 160.40 127.73 Colliers Internation 178.05 0.25 97 178.49 115.00 Constellation Softwa 4197.86 10.78 65 4217.63 2585.25 Descartes Systems Gr 135.12 -2.07 123 143.33 95.03 Dollarama Inc. 126.30 -1.79 841 131.17 84.19 Element Fleet Manage 26.17 -0.09 231 26.51 18.50 Emera Incorporated 47.01 0.28 1,406 55.74 43.67 Empire Company Limit 36.03 0.21 344 40.69 31.45 Enbridge Inc. 49.74 0.16 8,350 52.34 42.75 Fairfax Financial Ho 1605.81 21.34 22 1601.88 955.87 Fairfax Financial Ho 1107.00 0.00 0 1144.11 722.32 First Quantum Minera 16.38 -0.98 2,453 39.13 9.31 FirstService Corpora 223.26 -2.17 64 231.73 187.25 Fortis Inc. 55.80 0.71 2,110 57.93 49.82 Franco-Nevada Corpor 173.06 -1.51 239 198.00 139.19 George Weston Limite 206.29 -1.03 131 210.44 144.41 Gildan Activewear In 53.86 -0.29 383 54.92 36.42 Great-West Lifeco In 40.86 -0.69 2,039 45.18 37.06 Hydro One Limited 41.10 0.93 941 41.69 32.79 IGM Financial Inc. 38.05 -0.34 117 42.02 30.34 Imperial Oil Limited 95.65 -0.93 870 101.63 63.52 Intact Financial Cor 239.59 0.13 203 242.11 188.22 iShares Core MSCI EA 37.98 -0.31 54 38.77 31.30 iShares Core S&P 500 57.93 -0.46 213 59.23 43.31 iShares Core S&P/TSX 36.23 -0.20 288 36.67 29.75 iShares S&P/TSX 60 I 34.38 -0.18 3,932 34.75 28.49 Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. 18.41 -0.79 2,684 21.32 9.89 Keyera Corp. 38.07 0.36 1,336 38.39 30.08 Kinross Gold Corpora 12.22 -0.19 4,054 12.86 5.91 Loblaw Companies Lim 166.16 0.65 493 167.70 110.52 Lundin Mining Corpor 14.09 -0.92 1,790 17.97 8.18 Magna International 62.12 -0.59 1,631 87.00 55.93 Manulife Financial C 35.84 -0.38 4,830 37.46 23.69 MEG Energy Corp. 28.37 -0.05 1,401 33.70 22.44 Metro Inc. 80.38 0.38 604 80.07 65.43 Molson Coors Canada 69.00 0.00 0 94.63 65.00 Molson Coors Canada 71.94 0.44 0 93.39 65.04 National Bank of Can 111.45 -0.04 908 118.77 84.27 Newmont Corporation 65.20 -0.85 158 66.91 39.96 Open Text Corporatio 42.30 -0.56 298 60.00 37.92 Ovintiv Inc. 65.54 -0.78 54 76.63 50.11 Pan American Silver 31.45 -0.82 971 33.20 16.50 Pembina Pipeline Cor 51.88 0.32 3,391 51.82 38.79 Power Corporation of 39.34 -0.06 1,728 40.59 32.33 RB Global Inc. 110.51 -0.41 135 113.58 74.04 Restaurant Brands In 99.62 0.00 0 109.74 84.00 Restaurant Brands In 99.31 -3.24 1,118 112.12 84.73 Rogers Communication 55.00 0.00 1 64.95 50.50 Rogers Communication 51.79 -0.31 993 64.71 48.67 Royal Bank of Canada 153.75 0.43 8,725 153.68 107.92 Saputo Inc. 31.46 -0.14 222 32.15 25.28 Shopify Inc. Class A 86.56 -2.15 3,954 123.20 63.16 Sprott Physical Gold 25.91 -0.11 27 26.22 19.15 Sprott Physical Gold 19.07 0.00 0 19.15 14.00 Stantec Inc. 118.21 0.69 162 119.51 82.50 Sun Life Financial I 68.56 -0.65 803 74.94 61.84 Suncor Energy Inc. 53.23 0.06 6,740 56.69 37.86 TC Energy Corporatio 55.28 0.43 6,267 55.37 43.70 Teck Resources Limit 63.20 -3.13 3 74.15 44.46 Teck Resources Limit 63.05 -3.22 1,397 74.37 47.47 TELUS Corporation 21.83 0.17 2,642 25.94 20.04 TFI International In 210.26 -0.87 266 220.93 143.74 Thomson Reuters Corp 223.69 -0.86 987 242.92 163.01 TMX Group Limited 41.35 0.13 352 41.49 28.32 Toromont Industries 124.61 -0.44 53 135.53 100.81 Toronto-Dominion Ban 79.71 -0.28 6,064 87.10 73.67 Tourmaline Oil Corp. 60.41 0.88 2,281 74.21 53.45 Vanguard S&P 500 Ind 134.93 -0.83 279 137.50 101.01 Vanguard U.S. Total 101.66 -0.72 49 103.72 76.35 Waste Connections In 248.70 -0.95 499 250.31 174.74 West Fraser Timber C 108.11 -2.89 234 121.64 88.61 Wheaton Precious Met 83.57 -0.42 1,015 86.22 52.15 WSP Global Inc. 220.34 -1.78 101 230.98 174.39 VOLUME 52-WK 52-WK STOCK CLOSE CHG (000S) HIGH LOW (by market capitalization) TSX Top 100 MARK E T WAT CH Daily Mutual Movers Biggest gainers and losers base on percentage change in daily net asset value per share. Data supplied by Fundata. All Funds COMPANY CLOSE CHG Fid Glo Val Lg/Sh B 10.48 1.52 TD China Inc Grw Inv 21.61 0.98 ROMC Trust Series A 23.70 0.76 RBC QUBE LV EM Eq FdA 11.26 0.70 Dyn Strat Energy Cl A 6.34 0.63 Dyn Energy Income Fund A 14.71 0.61 BMO Asia Gr & Inc Fd A 14.29 0.60 Fidelity Mkt Neut Alt B 10.16 0.53 Vision Altern Inc Fd A 10.62 0.42 RBC Gbl Energy Fd A 57.72 0.40 CIBC Energy Fund Class A 29.77 0.39 BMO CovCallEngETF Fd A 10.67 0.34 Caldw US Div Advtg Fd A 13.62 0.32 Canadian Equity COMPANY CLOSE CHG TD Cdn Low Vol Cl Inv 14.24 0.00 TD Cdn Low Vol Fd Inv 7.87 0.00 RBC QUBELVCdnEquFd A 17.10 -0.09 BMO LowVoCdnEquETFFd A 13.46 -0.11 BMO Cdn Sm Alpha Equ Fd A 34.37 -0.12 Fid Cdn Lo Vo ETF Fd B 13.33 -0.12 Vis QUBE FFF LV Cdn Eq A 13.26 -0.14 RBC Trend Cdn Equ Fd A 10.50 -0.20 PH&N Cons Equ Inc Fd O 15.75 -0.28 Mawer Cdn Equity Fd A 93.74 -0.29 Desj LV Cdn Equ Fd I 12.41 -0.29 TD Cdn Lge-Cap Equ Fd D 15.78 -0.32 Scot Wth Cdn Grw Pool Pin 28.76 -0.34 Canadian Fixed Income COMPANY CLOSE CHG EdgePoint Mthly Inc Pt A 9.41 -0.07 CIBC Core Fix Inc Pool A 9.16 -0.09 CIBC 29 Inv Grd BdFd A 10.07 -0.09 CIBC Cons Fix Inc Pool A 9.31 -0.09 TD Cdn Bond Index Fd Inv 10.14 -0.10 Scot WthS-MGovtBondPool I 9.65 -0.10 CIBC 30 Inv Grd BdFd A 10.09 -0.12 RBC Mthly Inc Bond Fd A 8.90 -0.12 SEI Income 100 Fund O 4.83 -0.13 Fid Sys Cdn Bon Idx ETF B 8.78 -0.14 RBC Cdn Govt Bond Idx DZ 10.71 -0.14 Fid Cdn Bond Fd B 13.00 -0.14 Fid Prem Fix Inc PP B 10.29 -0.14 Global Equity COMPANY CLOSE CHG Canadian Dollar 40,665.02 17,871.22 DOW NASDAQ S&P 500 S&P/TSX -533.06 -125.70 -43.68 -124.41 5,544.59 22,726.76 +0.09-0.14 OIL GAS GOLD SILVER US$81.30 US$2.13 US$2,456.40 US$30.22 -3.50 -0.15 DOLLAR 73.01¢ -0.06 22,500 23,150 21,850 23,800 21,200 DAILY CLOSE, PAST 30 DAYS June July I Manitoba Stocks Ag Growth Int’l Inc. 54.17 -0.41 34,364 Artis REIT 6.68 -0.08 97,242 BCE Inc. 45.73 0.07 2,750,030 Bird River Resources Inc. 0.06 0.01 10,000 Boyd Group Services Inc. 261.37 -0.94 72,908 Buhler Industries Inc. 2.02 0 - Delta 9 Cannabis Inc. 0.01 0 - Exchange Income Corp. 47.94 0.29 81,170 FP Newspapers Inc. 0.47 -0.03 2,000 Gossan Resources Ltd. 0.04 0 29,000 Great West Lifeco Inc. 40.86 -0.69 2,038,610 Hudbay Minerals Inc. 11.04 -0.9 2,353,529 IGM Financial Inc. 38.05 -0.34 116,834 Kane Biotech Inc. 0.14 0.005 16,000 Medicure Inc. 1.00 0 110 NFI Group Inc. 16.57 -0.03 232,983 North West Co. Inc. New 43.83 0.47 88,293 Pollard Banknote Ltd. 26.81 -0.04 3,928 Winpak Ltd. 45.20 0.35 54,484 Marwest Apartment REIT 0.83 0 0 COMPANY CLSE CHG VOL COMPANY CLSE CHG VOL Futures Trading — Grain quotes CANOLA COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE YESTERDAY Nov ‘24 631.00 655.20 628.10 649.70 631.50 Jan ‘25 637.60 660.90 634.40 655.80 637.90 Mar 640.70 665.90 640.70 660.70 643.30 May 645.70 668.90 645.70 664.40 647.60 Jul 650.30 669.40 650.30 665.60 649.20 Nov 624.90 634.90 624.90 631.60 620.90 Jan ‘26 - 630.70 - 630.70 620.00 Mar - 633.40 - 633.40 622.70 May - 633.30 - 633.30 622.60 Jul - 630.80 - 630.80 620.10 Nov - 628.30 - 628.30 617.60 SOURCES: THE BANK OF CANADA, FUNDATA, ICE FUTURES CANADA, CME GROUP S&P/TSX Composite Index Foreign Exchange Rates These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Thursday. Quotations in Canadian funds. Australian dollar 0.9209 Brazilian real 0.2466 Chinese renminbi 0.1886 European euro 1.4944 Hong Kong dollar 0.1754 Indian rupee 0.01638 Indonesian rupiah 0.000085 Japanese yen 0.00873 Mexican peso 0.07662 New Zealand dollar 0.8304 Norwegian krone 0.127 Peruvian new sol 0.3669 Russian ruble 0.01556 Saudi riyal 0.3651 Singapore dollar 1.0202 South African rand 0.07523 South Korean won 0.00099 Swedish krona 0.1295 Swiss franc 1.5467 Taiwanese dollar 0.04192 Turkish lira 0.0414 UK pound sterling 1.7761 US dollar 1.3696 A U.S. dollar cost $1.3696 based on daily average ROMC Trust Series A 23.70 0.76 BG Gbl Equity Fd D 12.10 -0.10 TD Gbl Low Vol Fd Inv 21.05 -0.14 CIBC Rea Asset PP Prem 11.84 -0.16 Fid Founders Inv Tr O 23.44 -0.21 Fid Founders Class A 22.37 -0.22 Mack Wld Low Vol Fd A 10.75 -0.28 Fid Global Equity+ Fd F 12.41 -0.29 RBC QUBE LVAll C Wd Eq A 11.16 -0.31 TD Gbl Ent & Com Fd Inv 151.16 -0.32 BMO Glo Clim Trans Fd A 11.29 -0.32 SEI Gbl Mgd Volat Fd O 23.82 -0.34 Fid GblGrw&ValInvTru O 17.55 -0.34 These companies will have headquarters or major operations in Manitoba. Closing values are as of the end of trading. Provided by Wellington-Altus Private Wealth. ;