Canada’s main stock index extended its fall to a second day on Thursday, weighed down by energy stocks as oil prices were hit by worries over the Omicron COVID-19 variant, while miners were driven lower by a slide in Kinross Gold on its plan to buy Great Bear Resources for $1.8 billion.
The S&P/TSX Composite tumbled 122.02 points to open Thursday at 20,955.33
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.28 cents at 79.04 cents U.S.
Kinross shares sank 66 cents, or 8.9%, to $6.79, while those for Great Bear hiked $5.52, or 24.1%, to $28.45.
JP Morgan cut the rating on Canadian Natural Resources to neutral from overweight. Natural Resources shares swooned $1.78, or 3.3%, to $52.70.
National Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Foran Mining with a sector perform rating. Foran shares eked up two cents to $2.47.
CIBC cut the rating on Mullen Group to neutral from outperform. Mullen shares plunged 45 cents, or 3.8%, to $11.51.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lopped off 0.04 points to 924.63.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower on the session, as information technology dived 2.1%, industrials were down 1%, and communications slumped 0.6%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, picking up 1.5%, while materials and consumer staples each jumped 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks dipped on Thursday, after the major averages posted a third straight day of gains as traders bet that the omicron variant’s economic impacts won’t be as severe as initially thought.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 67.13 points to 35,687.62
The S&P 500 index docked 11.94 points to 4,689.22.
The NASDAQ slumbered 72.34 points at 15,714.65.
Stocks were set to give back some of their gains in recent days, with the moves higher spurred by the belief that the omicron variant of COVID looks less severe than earlier forms.
Several travel-related stocks, which led the market higher throughout the week, were lower Thursday morning. Shares of Carnival fell 2%. United and Delta Air Lines were 1% lower, as were travel booking stocks like Expedia and Booking Holdings. The Invesco Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment ETF fell slightly. All are still on track to end the week higher, however.
Separately, shares of Rent The Runway tumbled by 12% after reporting swelling losses and lower than pre-pandemic subscriber growth for its most recent quarter. Electric vehicle maker Lucid saw shares fall 4% after announcing a $1.75 billion offering of convertible senior notes.
Still, there were some positive morning moves as well. CVS gained 2% after it issued upbeat guidance ahead of its Investor Day. Home retailer RH soared about 10% after it reported blowout earnings and lifted the low end of its revenue outlook.
The moves come a day ahead of important inflation news as the U.S. Labor Department on Friday releases the consumer price index for November. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the year-over-year growth rate to be 6.7%. If that is the case, it will mark the biggest move since June 1982.
On Thursday, the Labor Department reported initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled 184,000, compared to the 211,000 estimated by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys gained ground, lowering yields to 1.49% from Wednesday’s 1.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 59 cents to $71.77 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hurtled lower $9.20 to $1,776.30 U.S. an ounce.