Canada’s resource-heavy main index dropped on Thursday, dragged by energy and mining stocks, while rate-sensitive technology stocks fell amid interest rate hikes by major central banks.
The TSX lost 131.93 points to break for noon EDT Thursday at 19,574.02.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.04 cents to 76.02 cents U.S.
Empire Co gained 93 cents, or 2.8%, to the top of the benchmark TSX at $34.75, after the food retailer posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups moved earthward, with real-estate down 1.6%, gold, duller by 1%, and materials, sliding 0.7%.
The two gainers were consumer staples and industrials, both up 0.4%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange let go of 7.54 points, or 1.2%, to 600.72.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite rose Thursday after three straight losing days as investors resumed buying tech stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrials backtracked 65.57 points to break for lunch Thursday at 33,883.95.
The S&P 500 inched up 0.38 points to 4,366.07.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ index recovered 56.63 points to 13,558.83.
Investors snapped up some major tech stocks that got dinged this week. Tesla shares were higher, despite falling earlier, even after the second major Wall Street bank in as many days downgraded the high-flying retail trader darling that has doubled this year. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, a longtime Tesla bull, revised his rating Thursday to equal weight from overweight. He said the stock presents “a more balanced risk reward” after its rally. Meanwhile, shares of Amazon were higher by more than 3%. Microsoft and Apple rose about 1%.
Elsewhere, Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems dropped 11% after the company halted production in its Kansas facility. This follows a worker strike announcement, set to start Saturday. Separately, Boeing shares also dropped more than 2%, weighing on the Dow.
Investors digested higher-than-expected weekly jobless claims data Thursday morning. The Labor Department reported first-time filings for unemployment benefits totaled 264,000 for the week ended June 17. Economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting a total of 256,000.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 3.80% from Wednesday’s 3.72%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tanked $2.90 to $69.63 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $20.60 to $1,924.30 U.S. an ounce.