Canada’s main stock index was subdued on Wednesday as weakness in oil and metal prices weighed on commodity stocks amid growing worries of a global recession.
The S&P/TSX declined 111.18 points to begin Wednesday at 18,722.98.
The Canadian dollar eked higher 0.01 cents to 76.73 cents U.S.
Voyager Digital said it had filed for bankruptcy, a week after the crypto lender suspended withdrawals, trading and deposits to its platform as it sought additional time to explore strategic alternatives.
For what it’s worth, Voyager shares closed last night at 33.5 cents.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 4.7 points to 611.24.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split, with real-estate gaining 0.8%, information technology ahead 0.7%, and health-care up 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, down 3.3%, communications, off 0.9%, and consumer discretionary stocks sliding 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks hovered near the flat line on Wednesday after the market staged a big midday reversal on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials nosed up 16.73 points to 30, 984.55.
The S&P 500 eked ahead 0.32 points to 3,831.71.
The NASDAQ Composite faded 14.57 points to 11,307.60.
Investors appeared to be drifting back into defensive stocks on Wednesday, with utility company Constellation and pharmaceutical giant Merck among the top performers in the S&P 500. Shares of Walmart rose 1.4%.
Oil prices tumbled below $100 a barrel Tuesday, further reflecting a potential economic slowdown, and slipped further on Wednesday.
Shares of Chevron and Exxon dropped more than 1% on Wednesday, extending declines from the previous session.
There are no major earnings reports scheduled for Wednesday, but there will be a slew of economic reports coming out, including the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June meeting in the afternoon.
Treasury prices dropped, bringing yields up to 2.86% from Tuesday’s 2.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $2.60 to $96.90 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $11.10 to $1,752.80 U.S. an ounce.