Stock indexes everywhere boarded “down” elevators Friday, amid fear of what inflation may have in store for the markets.
TSX Composite index tumbled 195.02 points, or 1%, to close Friday at 19,988.70. On the week, the loss was 269 points, or 1.33%.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.16 cents to 79.26 cents U.S.
Materials fell the most, with Capstone Mining docking 50 cents, or 9%, to $5.05, while Interfor lost $2.28, or 8.1%, to $25.99.
Among energy stocks, Crescent Point subtracted 23 cents, or 5% to $4.27, while Vermilion Energy doff3ed 46 cents, or 5%, to $8.80.
In the health-care sector, OrganiGram Holdings let go of 17 cents, or 5.1%, to $3.17, while Cronos Group gave back 47 cents, or 4.9%, to $9.06.
Utilities tried to lead a charge upward Friday, Algonquin Power & Utilities ahead 28 cents, or 1.5%, to $19.19, while North West Company surged 56 cents, or 1.6%, to $36.07.
In communications, Quebecor added 47 cents, or 1.4%, to $33.38, while Rogers jumped 62 cents to $67.22.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said foreigners acquired $20.8 billion in Canadian securities in May, mainly in the form of government debt securities. At the same time, Canadian investors increased their holdings of foreign securities by $10.7 billion, led by acquisitions of U.S. shares.
Moreover, the agency said sales of wholesale products rose 0.5% in May to $72.2 billion, setting a record high for the sector for a third consecutive month.
Finally, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that housing starts totalled 293,567 units in June, up from 284,837 units in May.
Canada may permit fully vaccinated travelers into the country by early September, the country’s prime minister said on Thursday, if the current trend in vaccination rate and public health conditions continue.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada and Quebec are ready to spend a combined $693 million on aerospace projects that cut carbon emissions.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange discarded 21.4 points, or 2.3%, to 907.31, a loss of 31 points on the week, or 3.3%.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the red, with materials paler by 3.4%, while energy descended 3.3%, and health-care stocks dropped 3.2%.
The four gainers were led by consumer staples and utilities, each up 0.5%, , while communications rose 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Friday, pushing the Dow Jones Industrials Average into the red for the week, as inflation fears overshadowed strong retail sales numbers and better-than-expected earnings reports.
The 30-stock index plummeted 299.17 points to greet the closing bell at 34,687.85.
The S&P 500 slipped 32.87 points to 4,327.16
The NASDAQ docked 115.9 points to 14,427.24.
The three averages closed the week lower to each snap three-week win streaks. The Dow ended the week down 0.5%, while the S&P 500 dipped 1% and the NASDAQ fell 1.9% during the same period.
Despite the week’s losses, the Dow is still up 13% for the year and sits just 1.15% from an all-time high. The S&P 500 is up 15% on the year and is 1.51% below its record level.
Weaker performance from technology stocks also weighed on the market Friday. Shares of Netflix fell ahead of the streaming giant’s second-quarter earnings report next week. Nvidia shares also dropped.
Investors also digested strong earnings results from the first major week of second-quarter reports. Though some of the nation’s largest companies posted healthy profits and revenues amid the economic recovery, the reaction in the stock market has so far been muted.
Much of the market’s upward pressure over the last week has come from a handful of mega-cap internet and communications stocks. Apple, Netflix, Google-parent Alphabet and Microsoft are all up this week.
The U.S. consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan came in at 80.8 for the first half of July, down from 85.5 last month and worse than economists estimated, who projected an increase.
The survey released Friday showed inflation expectations rising with consumers believing prices will increase 4.8% in the next year, the highest level since August 2008.
Retail and food service sales rose 0.6% in June, while economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected a 0.4% decline. Excluding autos, those sales jumped 1.3%, beating economists’ estimate of a 0.4% gain.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were higher, lowering yields to Thursday’s 1.30%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded 13 cents to $71.52 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $18.00 to $1,811.00 U.S. an ounce.