Stocks in Toronto slumbered in the early going and never quite recovered Wednesday, as investors showed nerves over the higher cost of money, engineered by the central bank to reel in runaway inflation.
The S&P/TSX lost 63.45 points to close Wednesday at 18,615.19.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.34 cents to 77.07 cents U.S.
Consumer staples proved the star among gainers, as Loblaw Companies sprinted $4.45, or 3.8%, to $121.82, while Jamieson Wellness grabbed $1.07, or 3.1%, to $35.85.
Gold surged, as Alamos Gold picked up 33 cents, or 3.6%, to $9.56, while B2Gold gained 13 cents, or 3.1%, to $4.31.
Materials also moved into the green, primarily Fortuna Silver Mines, up 21 cents, or 6.3%, to $3.53, while Endeavour Silver increased 22 cents, or 5.5%, to $4.23.
Financials did not fare so well, with Trisura Group settling 95 cents, or 2.9%, to $31.48, while goeasy Group dropped $1.99, or 1.9%, to $101.57.
Among industrial issues, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers plummeted $7.89, or 9.1%, to $78.49, while Toromont Industries dropped $6.04, or 5.9%, to $96.31.
In tech shares, Dye & Durham gave back $1.19, or 6.1%, to $18.34, while Absolute Software slid 50 cents, or 4.4%, to $10.91.
The Bank of Canada today increased its target for the overnight rate to 2.5%, with the Bank Rate at 2.75% and the deposit rate at 2½%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.9 points to 595.60.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, as consumer staples rocketed 1.9%, gold brightened 1.3%, and materials improved 1.1%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by financials, sagging 1.1%, while industrials backed off 0.8%, and information technology fell 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks slipped on Wednesday after June inflation data hit its highest level since 1981, adding to growing fears that the Federal Reserve will get more aggressive in its fight to tame rising prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials sank 208.54 points to 30,772.79.
The S&P 500 lost 17.02 points to 3,801.78.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 17.15 points to 11,227.53.
Consumer discretionary rose 0.9%, boosted by gains from Domino’s Pizza, Bath & Body Works and Tesla, while Boeing, Walgreens and UnitedHealth slid 2% each, dragging the Dow into negative territory.
Battered tech shares Amazon, Netflix and Tesla staged a comeback on Wednesday, rising more than 1% each despite mounting growth concerns.
The move briefly brought the tech-heavy NASDAQ into positive territory. Twitter’s stock rose 8% as the social media company sued Elon Musk.
Along with the inflation report, investors continued to monitor second-quarter earnings for clues into the health of U.S. companies. Delta Air Lines shares dropped 6.3% after posting mixed results.
Amid the news, United backtracked 1% and American Airlines dipped about 3%. Struggling cruise stocks Royal Caribbean and Carnival each fell more than 1%.
The consumer price index rose 9.1% on a year-over-year basis in June, coming in even higher than May’s 8.6% reading, which was the biggest increase since 1981. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones’ had anticipated an 8.8% print.
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, came in at 5.9% and above the 5.7% estimate.
Treasury prices gained ground, lowering yields to 2.91% from Tuesday’s 2.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices nosed 11 cents to $95.95 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained 11 cents to $1,731.20 U.S. an ounce.