Stocks north of the border touched a near four-week low after dropping over 1% on Wednesday, hurt by heavy losses in commodity-linked shares, while a higher-than-expected December U.S. retail sales data tempered hopes of early rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
The TSX Composite shrank 268.33 points, or 1.3%, at 20,679.76.
The Canadian dollar shed 0.13 cents to 74 cents U.S.
Pan American Silver fell $1.25, or 6.3%, to $18.59 after it announced preliminary production figures for 2023.
Celestica lost $1.46. or 3.8%, coming off a near six-week low at $37.06.
Shares of Rogers Communications declined 80 cents, or 1.3%, to $63.41, after the company announced changes to its board.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported Canadian investors purchased $12.5 billion of foreign securities in November, after divesting $8.2 billion in October. At the same time, foreign investors acquired $11.4 billion of Canadian securities, following three consecutive months of divestment totaling $39.7 billion.
The agency also said its Industrial Product Price Index fell 1.5% month over month in December and was 2.7% lower than December 2022, while its Raw Materials Price Index declined 4.9% on a monthly basis in December 2023 and fell 7.9% year over year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange let go of 4.85 points, mid-Wednesday at 553.39
All 12 subgroups remained in the red by noon EST, weighed most by materials, off 2.5%, gold, sinking 2.3%, and real-estate, weakening 2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 slipped Wednesday, as Treasury yields tracked higher following the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials made up some ground on breakeven as morning became afternoon, but was still in minus territory 39.88 points at 37,321.24.
The much broader index sank 27.78 points to 4,738.20.
The NASDAQ thundered lower 132.69 points to 14,811.68.
Charles Schwab shed nearly 3% after reporting mixed quarterly results. Intel and Caterpillar both declined around 3%, leading the Dow’s losses. Meanwhile, Boeing gained 1.6%, making it the biggest gainer in the Dow after weeks of heavy losses.
Retail sales data for December came in stronger-than-expected, indicating a resilient consumer and putting aggressive rate cuts from the Federal Reserve into doubt. Retail sales were up 0.6% from November, and gained 0.4% month-over-month excluding autos. Economists polled by Dow Jones had estimated a 0.4% month-to-month increase in retail sales and 0.2% ex-autos.
So far, traders are pricing in a roughly 60% chance that the Federal Reserve begins cutting rates in March as hopes mount for a pivot.
The Federal Reserve’s beige book and business inventories for November are also slated for Wednesday, along with remarks from New York Federal Reserve Bank President and CEO John Williams.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury slipped, raising yields to 4.10% from Tuesday’s 4.07%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subtracted 67 cents to $71.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices plunged $22.40 to $2,007.80.