Clawing back some summer slippage, Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) has been working its way back up the rankings in the SIA S&P/TSX Composite Index Report since September. This week, it returned to the Green Favored Zone for the first time since February, joining five other insurance companies in the top tier. In the SIA S&P/TSX 60 Index Report, MFC.TO has jumped seven spots in the last week, moving up toward the top of the Yellow Neutral Zone in that report.
Although the sharp dropoff in US treasury yields has ignited a rally in equity markets in general, it hasn’t necessarily benefitted all individual stocks or sectors equally. Utilities, for example, which one would expect to do well in a falling interest rate environment, have been struggling lately.
Exelon (EXC) the largest utility in the US, dropped 10 spots in the SIA S&P 100 Index Report to 62nd place, dropping back into the Red Unfavored Zone.
In this edition of Equity Leaders Weekly, we look at the Canadian banking sector moving into its earnings week, and at what recent gains in the gold price may be telling us about investor sentiment.
Although it remains the highest ranked of the Canadian banks within the SIA S&P/TSX 60 Index Report, National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) has been weakening relative to stocks in other sectors since March, when sentiment turned against banks in the wake of multiple regional bank failures in the US. This week, NA.TO has dropped into the Red Unfavored Zone for the first time since May of 2020.
SIA Charts relative strength reports provide investors with an indication of changing and ongoing trends in a stock’s performance relative to its peers. This 5 year chart of Visa’s relative strength within the SIA S&P 100 Index Report shows that after outperforming in 2019, Visa’s relative strength dropped off in 2020 and then it spent 2021 and 2022 underperforming.
This year, Visa climbed up out of the red zone more consistently, and in the last month it has moved up into the Green Favored Zone, currently sitting in 26th place. Visa is currently ranked higher than competitors MasterCard who is in 28th position in the yellow zone, along with American Express and Capital One, who are respectively ranked 61st and 62nd in the red zone.
The last time we talked about Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO) was in the Aug 15, 2022 edition of the Daily Stock Report when the shares were at $59.49. They initially entered the favored zone earlier that year on May 2, 2022, at a price of $58.39. Since then, the shares have remained in the Favored zone up until today with only a few brief dips into the top of the yellow neutral zone without ever entering the red unfavored zone. Today the shares are at $79.20 which represents a price increase of 35.6% in a little over a year and a half. Currently, ATD.TO sits in the 5th spot in the S&P-TSX 60 Index report up 1 spot in the last month.
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is currently the lowest ranked of the Big Six in the SIA S&P/TSX 60 Index Report, and is currently sitting in 56th place near the bottom of the Red Unfavored Zone. National Bank (NA.TO) is the only big Canadian bank that is not in the red zone, currently in 30th place at the bottom of the Yellow Neutral Zone.
In this edition of Equity Leaders Weekly, we look at how the prospects for a recovering China appear to be having a positive impact on China-sensitive markets like Hong Kong stocks and copper.
Technology and business consulting giant Accenture PLC (ACN) has been bouncing around the boundary between the Green-Favored and yellow-neutral zones in the SIA S&P 100 Index Report since May. Over this six-month period the shares have returned 15.0%. ACN has been on an upswing lately, climbing 8 positions in the last month to 25th place, returning to the Green Favored Zone from a short dip down into the yellow zone.
Hamilton steelmaker Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO) has seen its relative strength within the SIA S&P/TSX Composite Index Report improve dramatically in the last few weeks. Stelco started the year off strong, spending the first three months up in the Green Favored Zone, then drifted down into the red zone through the summer.
In the last month, Stelco has climbed 141 positions to 26th place, exiting the red zone, returning to the Green Favored Zone for the first time since March, and continuing to trend upward in the relative strength rankings.
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