Canada’s main stock index fell on Thursday, following a rally in the previous session spurred by a less hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve, as e-commerce giant Shopify slumped after reporting its slowest quarterly revenue growth in seven years.
The S&P/TSX Composite dived 499.18 points, or 2.4%, to reach noon hour at 20.685.77.
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.62 cents at 77.89 cents U.S.
Shopify, for its part, plummeted $102.13, or 16.5%, to $516.17.
Bombardier reported a smaller quarterly adjusted loss, while Canadian Natural Resources’ quarterly net profit more than doubled thanks to rising crude and gas prices. Bombardier ducked eight cents, or 6.1%, to $1.24.
Shopify, for its part, plummeted $102.13, or 16.5%, to $516.17.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped 21.36 points, or 2.7%, to 786.02.
All 12 TSX subgroups lost ground midday, with information technology plunging 7.3%, health-care ailing 4.4%, and materials weaker by 2.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Thursday, erasing the gains seen in the previous session after the Federal Reserve raised rates by half a point.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 976.43 points, or 2.9%, to 33,084.63.
The S&P 500 slouched 144.6 points, or 3.2%, to 4,155.57.
The NASDAQ Composite subtracted 587 points, or 4.6%, to 12,377.86.
Large tech stocks were under pressure, with Facebook-parent Meta Platforms down 5.8% and Amazon falling 7.1%. Microsoft dropped 4.7%. Salesforce tumbled 6.3%.
E-commerce stocks were a key source of weakness on Thursday following some disappointing quarterly reports.
Etsy retreated 15% and eBay dropped 8%, after issuing weaker-than-expected revenue guidance. Shopify fell more than 17% after missing estimates on the top and bottom lines.
The Fed increased its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points, as expected, and said it would begin reducing its balance sheet in June.
However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during his news conference that the central bank is “not actively considering” a larger 75-basis-point rate hike, which appeared to spark a rally.
Still, the Fed remains open to the prospect of taking rates above neutral to rein in inflation
In economic data, weekly jobless claims came in slightly higher than expected and labor productivity dropped 7.5% in the first quarter for its fastest decline since 1947.
Treasury prices jumped sharply, with yields falling to 3.09% from Wednesday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 49 cents to $108.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on $13.20 to $1,882 U.S. an ounce.