Canadian stocks sank to a three-week low\on Thursday, led by losses in commodity-linked sectors as fears over a slowdown in global growth dented oil and metal prices.
The TSX/S&P Composite fell 149.17 points to greet noon Thursday at 20,152.94, in its sixth straight session of losses, with the index on its longest losing streak since the height of the pandemic-induced selloff in February 2020.
The Canadian dollar descended 0.08 cents to 78.18 cents U.S.
Lundin Mining slumped 72 cents, or 6.9%, to $9.78, after BMO Capital downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform.
The head of Elections Canada said on Wednesday that the majority of mail-in ballots in the upcoming federal election will be counted after election day, delaying the final result.
Prosecutors said the defence of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou failed on facts and law, as hearings in their bid to extradite her to the United States finished on Wednesday.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange swooned 9.49 points, or 1.1%, to 868.56.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups remained red Thursday morning, with energy toppling 3.3%, health-care ailing 1.7%, and consumer discretionaries lower by 1.6%.
The five gainers were led by information technology, up 0.4%, industrials, ahead 0.3%, and gold, shinier by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rebounded Thursday as investors shook off concerns about the Federal Reserve removing stimulus and bought technology stocks higher.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 5.91 points, to 34.966.50.
The broader index regained 16.93 points to 4,417.20.
The NASDAQ pulled ahead 76.81 points to 14,604.53.
Nvidia’s stock jumped more than 7% midday after the chip giant’s quarterly earnings and revenue beat Wall Street estimates amid strong graphics cards sales.
Shares of tech stocks including Microsoft and Netflix traded in the green.
Defensive stocks like consumer staples and health care names gained, helping lift the averages. Procter & Gamble and Merck each gained about 1%.
Meanwhile, stocks closely linked to the economy led losses. Steelmaker Nucor lost about 3%. Oil companies Devon Energy and Occidental Petroleum shed more than 5% each. Miner Freeport-McMoRan fell about 6%. General Motors fell more than 3%. Reopening plays like airlines and hotels were also lower.
Goldman Sachs cut its economic growth forecast for the current quarter to 5.5% from 9% Wednesday night, adding to the negative sentiment. The firm also sees higher inflation than expected for the rest of the year.
Meeting minutes from the Fed’s gathering in July showed the central bank has started eyeing tapering its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases before the year-end.
Investors digested mixed economic data released Thursday. First-time jobless claims last week hit a new pandemic-era low at 348,000, declining more than expected from the week prior.
The Philadelphia Fed Index, a gauge of growth in the region, still indicated expansion but at a level worse than expected. The August reading was 19.4, below the 22 consensus of economists polled by Dow Jones.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained strength, lowering yields to 1.24% from Wednesday’s 1.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $2.14 to $63.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered 90 cents lower to $1,785.30 U.S. an ounce.