Equities in Canada’s largest market fell hard on Thursday as weak oil and metal prices weighed on commodity stocks and banks slid on fears that a surprise 100-basis-point interest hike by the central bank could hit mortgage growth.
The S&P/TSX tumbled 321.07 points, or 1.7%, to commence Thursday at 18,294.12.
The Canadian dollar jettisoned 0.98 cents to 75.94 cents U.S.
The world’s biggest gold company, Barrick Gold, took some of the biggest bruises at Thursday’s open, off $1.16, or 5.4%, to $20.24.
Imperial Oil joined in general energy weakness, falling $1.51, or 2.8%, to $53.48.
On the economic stage, Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales fell 2.0% in May, mainly on lower sales of motor vehicles and primary metals.
Excluding the transportation equipment industry, total manufacturing sales rose 0.2% in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 10.36 points, or 1.7%, to 585.24.
All but one of 12 TSX subgroups were soaking in red ink, with gold behind Wednesday’s close by 4.3%, materials down 4.1%, and energy subsiding 3.5%.
Only industrials were able to fight off the negative stranglehold, and gain 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks tumbled Thursday as big bank earnings kicked off with disappointing results and traders assessed the possibility of even tighter U.S. monetary policy on the back of June’s inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrials dwindled 603.1 points, or 2%, to 30,168.10.
The S&P 500 stumbled 76.21 points, or 2%, to 3,725.57.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 225.94 points, or 2%, to 11,021.65.
Earnings results from major banks on Thursday offered further clues into the health of the U.S. economy. JPMorgan Chase sank 5% after reporting quarterly earnings that missed analyst expectations and halted buybacks.
Morgan Stanley also dipped following a miss on the top and bottom lines. Goldman Sachs, which is set to report earnings Monday, slipped 4%.
Earnings season for big banks continues on Friday with results from Wells Fargo and Citigroup.
All stocks in the Dow fell on the day, led by declines from JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Chevron. Energy, materials and financials led the S&P 500’s losses, down 2% each. Tech stocks Meta Platforms, Salesforce, Tesla and Amazon fell more than 1%.
June’s producer price index report, which measures prices paid to producers of goods and services, showed wholesale prices rise 11.3% last month as energy prices jumped and offered further insights into the health of the economy.
Treasury prices declined, raising yields to 2.99% from Wednesday’s 2.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices ditched $5.09 to $91.21 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $37.00 to $1,698.50 U.S. an ounce.