Equities in Canada’s largest market followed their American brethren downward Wednesday, as the vibes out of the U.S. central bank didn’t indicate the economy was quite out of the woods.
The TSX slid 52.88 points to close Wednesday at 20,354.68
The Canadian dollar was up 0.02 cents at 73.43 cents U.S.
Energy again took the biggest bruises, with Baytex doffing 15 cents, or 3.2%, to $4.57, while Tamarack Valley Energy docked 11 cents, or 3.1%, to $3.42.
In consumer discretionary stocks, Aritizia took the biggest blows, down $9.30, or 21.6%, to $33.80, while Spin Master gave back $1.49, or 3.8%, to $37.29.
In consumer staples, Loblaw Companies stumbled $3.87, or 3.1%, to $124.79, while North West Company plunged 58 cents, or 1.5%, to $38.98.
Health-care stocks, on the other hand, were on the rebound, with Tilray taking on 15 cents, or 4.8%, to $3.25, while Chartwell Retirement Residences gained 13 cents, or 1.5%, to $8.90.
Utilities were also in the green, notably, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners units, ahead $1.59, or 3.4%, to $48.16, while Algonquin Power & Utilities jumped 33 cents, or 2.9%, to $11.88.
Financials also moved up, as EQB screamed higher $2.72, or 4.6%, to $62.34, while goeasy Ltd. leaped $1.24, or 1.4%, to $89.58.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.32 points to 606.11.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups slipped into the red by Wednesday’s close, with energy tailing off 1.8%, consumer discretionary stocks down 1.4%, and consumer staples crumpling 0.9%.
The four gainers were co-led by health-care and utilities, each climbing 1.6%, and financials, nosing up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points, as was widely expected.
The Dow Jones Industrials swooned 270.29 points to 33,414.24.
The S&P 500 lost 28.83 points to 4,090.75.
The NASDAQ Composite dipped 55.18 points to 12,025.33.
Earlier bullish sentiment was dented somewhat after Fed Chair Jerome Powell ruled out cutting interest rates because he did not expect inflation to come down quickly enough.
However, traders were focusing on what the Fed didn’t say this time in its post-meeting statement. The central bank appeared to soften its language about future rate increases by dropping a line from the March statement that said, “the Committee anticipates that some additional policy firming may be appropriate.”
Powell commented to the press after the statement’s release that dropping that language was a “meaningful change” and that the central bank’s June decision would be driven by incoming data.
Shares of PacWest shed nearly 2% after losing about 28% the prior day. Western Alliance shares were down 4.4%.
Payroll processing firm ADP reported private payrolls data on Wednesday, which showed that hiring at private companies unexpectedly swelled in April by more than double of what economists had expected. The surge suggests that the labor market remains hot despite the Fed’s attempts to cool hiring and wage growth.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury moved up, lowering yields to 3.36% from Tuesday’s 3.42%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded $3.48 to $68.18 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $21.00 to $2,044.30 U.S. an ounce.