Equities in Canada’s largest centre fell hard leading up to noon EDT on Friday, as global risk sentiment took a hit from fears that aggressive rate hikes from central banks would tip the economy into a recession.
The TSX Composite docked 204.03 points, or 1%, to take a noon breather at 19,356.13.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.14 cents to 75.34 cents.
Health-care took the worst beatings, with Aurora Cannabis sliding 12 cents, or 5.9%, to $1.91, while Canopy Growth dipping 22 cents, or 4.8%, to $4.34.
In techs, HUT 8 Mining sank 18 cents, or 6.4%, to $2.63, while Shopify let go of $2.38 or 5.3%, to $42.42.
Gold tried to lift things up a bit, with New Gold rising seven cents, or 6.2%, to $1.20, while Torex Gold Resources took on 20 cents, or 2.2%, to $9.19.
In communications, Corus Entertainment added six cents, or 2.3%, to $2.63, while Rogers climbed 44 cents to $55.94.
On the economic front, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported housing starts of 267,309 units in August, up from 264,467 units in July.
Statistics Canada came out saying wholesale sales fell 0.6% in July, largely due to declines in the personal and household goods sub-sector.
Also, foreign investors acquired $14.8 billion of Canadian securities, while Canadian investors added $4.3 billion of foreign securities to their holdings.
Adding to the somber mood, the World Bank said the global economy might be inching toward a recession, while the International Monetary Fund said it expected a slowdown in the third quarter.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange let go of 6.13 points, or 1%, to 631.76.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups remained negative noon hour, with health-care surrendering 3%, and information technology clicking lower 2.5%, and energy 1.9% less energetic.
The two gainers were gold, up 1.8%, and communications, inching up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Friday as Wall Street headed toward a big losing week, and traders absorbed an ugly earnings warning from FedEx about the global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials dumped 318.07 points, or 1%, to pause for lunch at 30,643.75
The S&P 500 sank 47.15 points, or 1.2%, to 3,854.20.
The NASDAQ Composite subtracted 173.45 points, or 1.5%, to 11,378.91.
Shares of FedEx plunged 24% after the shipments company withdrew its full-year guidance and said it will implement cost-cutting initiatives to contend with soft global shipment volumes as the global economy “significantly worsened.”
Transport stocks are typically seen as a leading economic indicator, and FedEx pointed to weakness in Asia as one of the main reasons for its negative outlook. Shares of shipping rivals UPS lost 4% and XPO Logistics dropped 7%, and Amazon’s stock fell 3%.
The three major averages were on pace to notch their fourth losing week in five as a comeback rally looks increasingly like a bear market bounce. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has declined 4.7% this week, while the S&P 500 is 3.8% lower. The NASDAQ is down 6.2%, headed toward its worst weekly loss since June.
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index preliminary September reading came in at 59.5, just below a Dow Jones estimate of 60. That print was still slightly above August’s final reading of 58.2.
Treasury prices gained, lowering yields to 3.43% from Thursday’s 3.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite direction.
Oil prices poked up 35 cents to $85.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $1.70 to $1,675.60 U.S. an ounce.