This is the midday brief for Tue, Apr 28, 2026. View latest

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Midday Edition. Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Market context for passive investors.

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$42.07
-0.40%

Headline

Materials and tech drag Canada as AI doubts weigh on U.S. growth stocks.

XEQT is down 0.40% at midday, extending its second consecutive decline and sitting 1.8% below its 52-week high. The United States sleeve is contributing the most to the loss at -0.17 pp, pulled lower by a sharp retreat in technology, while Canada adds a nearly equal drag of -0.14 pp as materials and information technology fall hard. International developed markets are providing a near-cushion, contributing just -0.02 pp, while emerging markets add -0.05 pp despite a broad selloff across that sleeve.

How large is this afternoon's move?

Typical day · This afternoon's -0.40% move is 0.6× the 20-day average move.

This scale measures size, not what to do. Larger moves are a normal part of holding a global all-equity fund.

The Regions

  • Canada

    25.81% of XEQT

    • XIC.TO
    -0.54% -0.14 pts from XEQT

    Canadian materials are down 4.17% and Canadian information technology has shed 4.62% so far, together accounting for the sleeve's 0.54% decline despite meaningful offsets from energy, up 2.36%, and financials, up 0.47%. Gold's 1.99% drop is consistent with the materials sector's weakness, while energy's strength tracks WTI crude climbing above $99. The opposing forces within the sleeve leave the net drag modest at -0.14 pp, but the intra-sleeve divergence is among the sharpest anywhere in the fund.

    Canada market region icon

  • United States

    44.12% of XEQT

    • XTOT.TO
    • ITOT
    -0.38% -0.17 pts from XEQT

    Technology is the dominant weight on the U.S. sleeve, falling 2.15% and contributing -0.72 pp within the sleeve's tracked exposures, consistent with renewed questions about whether AI investment can translate into near-term earnings. Consumer staples and energy are both in positive territory, up 1.18% and 1.92% respectively, softening the sleeve's overall decline to -0.38%.

    United States market region icon

  • Intl Developed

    24.51% of XEQT

    • XEF.TO
    -0.08% -0.02 pts from XEQT

    The international developed sleeve is the steadiest part of the fund, off just 0.08% and contributing only -0.02 pp. Among the markets tracked, Sweden and the Netherlands are the steepest decliners, down 3.02% and 1.64% respectively, while Spain and Italy are modestly positive. Japan is nearly flat despite a reportedly divided Bank of Japan policy vote.

    Intl Developed market region icon

  • Emerging Mrkts

    5.37% of XEQT

    • XEC.TO
    -0.89% -0.05 pts from XEQT

    Emerging markets are the weakest sleeve on a percentage basis, down 0.89%, though their 5.37% weight limits the damage to -0.05 pp. South Korea and South Africa have fallen 1.86% and 1.88% respectively among the markets tracked, with the Bloomberg-reported combination of a tech selloff and oil surge appearing consistent with the broad pressure across this sleeve.

    Emerging Markets market region icon

Colored bars represent biggest contributors to XEQT's move this afternoon (threshold = ±0.1 percentage points). Returns are daily ETF price moves for tracked regional or sector categories and may differ slightly from raw index movements.

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The Hold Line

A second consecutive decline of 0.40% is well within XEQT's recent rhythm, running at just 0.6 times the 20-day average absolute move. The one-month return still stands at nearly 8%, and the YTD figure of 4.76% remains positive. What the session does illustrate is how internal diversification can absorb sharp sector moves: Canadian energy and financials are rising even as materials and tech fall, blunting what would otherwise be a harder day for the fund.

Signals

  • 01

    AI growth doubts hit tech broadly

    U.S. technology is down 2.15% and Canadian information technology has shed 4.62%, suggesting concerns about AI-driven earnings are weighing on tech exposures across geographies. For a long-term XEQT holder, the fund's sector breadth means a single theme's weakness is structurally absorbed rather than amplified.

  • 02

    Oil surge splits sectors sharply

    WTI crude, the benchmark for North American oil prices, has risen 3.34% to nearly $100, lifting Canadian energy 2.36% and U.S. energy 1.92% while correlating with broader inflation concerns that are likely pressuring materials and rate-sensitive assets. The opposing sector moves within Canada are worth watching as a test of how commodity price shifts propagate through XEQT's largest sleeve.

  • 03

    Gold drop pressures Canadian materials

    Gold, a key driver of precious metals mining stocks, has fallen 1.99% while copper is also off 1.71%, and Canadian materials have declined 4.17%, a move that stands out relative to energy's simultaneous gain. The divergence underscores that commodity exposure within Canada is not monolithic, and the sleeve's net contribution is shaped heavily by which commodity is moving on a given day.

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