Nerves got the better of investors in Canada, as the major indexes felt downward pressure Wednesday, particularly in the health-care and real-estate sectors.
The TSX Composite dropped 123.78 points to face the closing bell Wednesday at 18,674.40.
The Canadian dollar flopped 0.21 cents to 72.65 cents U.S.
Health-care got bruised the worst, with Canopy Growth swooning 24 cents, or 6.7%, to $3.32, while Bausch Health Companies gave back 61 cents, or 6.5%, to $8.73.
Among real-estate concerns, Interent REIT handed back 50 cents a unit, or 4.4%, to $10.91, while FirstService dumped $7.11, or 4.2%, to $162.97.
Gold also weighed, with Wesdome Gold reeling 50 cents, or 6.1%, to $7.69, while Eldorado Gold lost 38 cents, or 4.6%, to $7.81.
Energy stocks tried valiantly to pick up the slack, with Precision Drilling advancing $5.39, or 6.7%, to $86.41 and Vermilion Energy up $1.71, or 6%, to $30.21.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada said its consumer price index rose 6.9% on a year-over-year basis in September, decelerating from a 7.0% gain in August. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.4% in September.
The Industrial Product Price Index edged up 0.1% month over month in September and was up 9.0% year over year. The Raw Materials Price Index fell 3.2% monthly in September and rose 11% year over year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.13 points to 587.39.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups faded in the midweek session, with health-care going south 4.6%, real-estate slipping 2.9%, and gold duller 2.5%.
Energy was the lone gainer, picking up 2.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks moved lower on Wednesday as Wall Street struggled to extend its rally amid a sharp rise in Treasury yields.
The Dow Jones Industrials demurred 99.99 points to 30,423.81.
The S&P 500 dropped 24.82 points to 3,695.15.
The NASDAQ finished in the red 91.89 points to 10,680.51.
The losses ended a two-day winning streak, though all three averages are still up for the week.
The impact of higher rates is being shown sharply in the housing market, where housing starts fell faster than expected in September, the Census Bureau said on Wednesday.
The rate hike also weighed on more speculative tech stocks. Among the biggest losers in the NASDAQ were Chinese tech stocks JD.com, falling more than 7%, and Baidu, sinking 8.8%.
The declines for the broader market came even as Netflix shares rallied 13% after the streaming giant posted earnings and revenue that beat estimates as well as strong subscriber growth for the third quarter.
United Airlines climbed nearly 5% after its quarter also beat estimates on the top and bottom lines.
The solid start to earnings season comes as many on Wall Street have been resetting their earnings projections lower and investors are worried about a recession. Even though equities have rallied in the first two days of the week, Treasury yields remain high and rose on Wednesday, suggesting that recession fears are still intact.
Tech earnings will be in full swing next week, but IBM and Tesla are on deck to report Wednesday. Social media firm Snap will report later in the week.
In economic data, investors are looking forward to housing starts on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve’s so-called Beige Book, the central bank’s report on the current state of economic conditions, will come out as well.
Treasury prices recovered lost ground, dropping yields to 4.13% from Tuesday’s 4%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices advanced $2.84 to $85.66 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices staggered $21.90 to $1,633.90 U.S. an ounce.