Stocks Back in Plus Country

Equities in Canada’s largest centre recovered some of their strength – and pride – after the last few days of bruising losses, brought on by the weakness in the U.S. banking sector.

The TSX gained 105.26 points, off its highs of the day, to close Tuesday at 19,694.16.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.34 cents to 73.11 cents U.S.

Techs proved the champions Tuesday, with Enghouse Systems ahead $2.25, or 6.3%, to close at $37.89, while HUT 8 Mining grew 18 cents, or 8.7%, to $2.26.

Next in line were real-estate plays, led by Colliers International, zooming $5.46, or 3.7%, to $152.43, while Granite REIT pumped up $1.93.

Metals jumped, led by Stelco, strengthening $2.94, or 5.2%, to $59.04, while Ivanhoe Mines increased 41 cents, or 3.7%, to $11.57.

Energy paled, however, with Precision Drilling waning $3.41, or 4.7%, to $68.84, while Crescent Point Energy doffed 25 cents, or 2.8%, to … Read more

10,000 Meta jobs to be axed amid ‘Year of Efficiency’

The owner of Facebook and Instagram will cut another 10,000 jobs, months after laying off 11,000 staff, as the technology group prepares for years of economic disruption.

Meta Platforms unveiled a fresh wave of redundancies as it battens down the hatches, announcing it would also shut about 5,000 additional vacant roles that it had not yet filled and cancel “lower priority” projects.

“This will be tough, and there’s no way around that,” Mark Zuckerberg, its chairman and chief executive, told employees. Tech companies worldwide are scrambling to cut costs amid apprehension over the economic outlook.

Zuckerberg, 38, suggested that junior employees work better from the office, at least for part of the week.

“Engineers earlier in their career perform better on average when they work in-person with teammates at least three days a week,” he told staff, citing “early analysis of performance data” that required further study. “But our hypothesis … Read more

Dow Falls Yet Again Despite Federal Help for SVM

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped on Monday as a Federal Reserve plan to backstop all the depositors in failed Silicon Valley Bank, along with other extraordinary measures, failed to boost bank shares.

The 30-stock index surrendered 90.5 points to 31,819.14, making five straight days of losses.

The S&P 500 lost 5.83 points to 3,855.70.

The NASDAQ Composite broke the trend and gained 49.96 points to 11,188.94.

A joint statement from the Fed, Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said all Silicon Valley Bank depositors would have access to their money starting Monday. The Fed also said it is creating a new Bank Term Funding Program aimed at safeguarding deposits. The facility will offer loans of up to one year to banks, saving associations, credit unions and other institutions.

Bank stocks remained under pressure following last week’s slide, with JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup falling. Regional banks fell even … Read more