04:17 PM EDT, 10/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange slipped lower on Tuesday, pushed down by weakening oil prices even as a report touted the its index as one of North America's top performers.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 3.11 points to close at 24,562.55. Telecoms, down 1.1% and Utilities, down 1.77%, were the session's biggest decliners while Information Technology, up 0.85%, and Base Metals, up 0.48%, the main gainers. Declining issues outpaced advancers 1,008 to 868, with 171 issues closing unchanged.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed lower on Tuesday, following a day-prior 6% drop, as worries abated that war will spread in the Middle East, as the World Bank said it expects a supply glut to begin suppressing prices next year. WTI crude oil for December delivery closed down US$0.17 to US$67.21 per barrel, while December Brent crude, the global benchmark, closed down US$0.30 to US$71.12.

Gold traded at a record high late afternoon on Tuesday, supported by safe-haven buying ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. election even as the dollar and yields rose. Gold for December delivery was last seen up US$29.10 to US$2,785.00 per ounce, above the Oct.22 record close of US$2,759.80.

Rosenberg Research on Tuesday said the monthly Coppock Curve, a measure of long-term (months to years) equity momentum, is on pace to peak by as early as December and be in a confirmed downtrend by January and February 2025. At this early stage, the initial expectation is that the subsequent long-term bearish bias will persist through much of 2025 and possibly into 2026.

"Not surprisingly," the research said, "a similar scenario exists for the index's sectors. The monthly Coppock oscillator should have a bearish bias for a solid majority of the 11 sectors by early next year, with those "solid majority" pressures continuing through 2025."

By way of comparison, the research said, the Canadian TSX index's monthly Coppock Curve, which has been in an uptrend since early-2023, seems to still have enough energy to continue into early next year.

It added: "While this suggests that still-higher TSX highs are likely in the coming weeks, we doubt that momentum will be able to break out to new highs of its own above the indicator's late 2021 peak. The resulting bearish divergence will put the TSX at risk of retracing a substantial portion of at least its 2022-present rally, if not the larger uptrend from 2020's COVID-19 low."

But, the research also said, nearby support exists to test last year's breakout point at 21,000-20,500. Below that, the November 2022 to October 2023 'double bottom' should offer important second support. Relative to the S&P 500, the monthly Coppock guide on the Canada/U.S. ratio has bottomed and is expected to maintain a bullish bias through much of 2025, according to the Rosenberg team.

"In other words, as we have emphasized recently, with the TSX commanding a 3.0% dividend yield more than double that of the S&P 500 and a 30% P/E multiple discount (15x versus 22x), U.S.-based investors should strongly consider moving from New York to Toronto," the research said.