(CORRECTS AMOUNT OF DROP FOR TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE)
Equities in Canada’s largest market moved up and down the scale Thursday, finally resting below breakeven, as investors had yet to warm to the reality of lower interest rates.
The TSX Composite Index slid 31.54 points to close Thursday to 22,608.03
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.08 at 72.32 cents U.S.
In corporate news, bitcoin miner Bitfarms said it has adopted a second ‘poison pill’ after a Canadian tribunal ceased the earlier one adopted to prevent a potential hostile takeover attempt by rival Riot Platforms. Bitfarms shares dropped four cents, or 1.1%, to $3.57.
Elsewhere, Loblaw Companies dropped 78 cents to $168.21 after the retailer missed estimates for second-quarter revenue, hurt by soft demand for some household items and non-essential products such as apparel.
Mullen Group jumped $1.23, or 9.3%, to $14.50, after logistics provider’s earnings beat estimates.
Gold weighed the most among losing subgroups, with Eldorado Gold sagging 84 cents, or 3.7%, to $21.69, while Alamos Gold faltered $1.06, or 4.5%, to $22.61.
In other resource stocks, Fortuna Mining docked 33 cents, or 4.9%, to $6.42, while Dundee Precious Metals slipped 43 cents, or 3.6%, to $11.61.
Industrials also got clobbered, with Boyd Group bruised $20.44, or 8.2%, to $229.88, while Bombardier sank $4.67, or 4.9%, to $90.22.
The health-care subgroup tried to lift things up by the closing bell, Bausch Health – one of Wednesday’s hardest-hit firms – gained 11 cents, or 1.4%, to $8.13, while Sienna Senior Living forged ahead 21 cents, or 1.4%, to $15.53.
In real-estate, Colliers International surged $6.87, or 3.8%, to $188.01, while FirstService popped $15.19, or 6.7%, to $241.07.
Techs also gained, with Dye & Durham better by 23 cents, or 1.8%, to $13.18, while Converge Technology Solutions picked up six cents, or 1.5%, to $4.17.
On the economic schedule, Statistics Canada reported the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—increased by 41,000 (+0.2%) in May.
The central bank trimmed its key policy rate by 25 basis points, in line with market expectations, and indicated a possibility of more cuts if inflation continues to ease in line with forecasts.
Traders currently see a 62.2% chance of a cut in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 3.28 points to 573.64.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, with health-care stocks better by 1.2%, real-estate stronger 1.1%, and information technology improving 0.8%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 2.4%, industrials backpedaling 1%, and materials, off 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks wavered Thursday as Wall Street attempted to recover from the worst session since 2022 for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished in the green 81,2 points at 39,935.07.
The S&P 500 index leaned lower 27.91 points to 5,399.22.
The NASDAQ flirted with positive readings, but then finished sharply lower, 160.69 points to 17,181.72.
Investors ditched tech for a second day. Nvidia lost 2%, while Advanced Micro Devices shed more than 4%, while mega-cap stocks Meta Platforms and Microsoft slumped 2%. Alphabet declined more than 3%.
Ford Motor shares tumbled 18% and headed for their worst day since 2008 after second-quarter earnings came in much lower than analysts expected. Chipotle slipped, despite topping earnings and revenue expectations, while ServiceNow popped 15% on stronger-than-expected earnings and headed for its best day since 2013.
Investors also assessed a second-quarter GDP report that showed the economy grow 2.8%, and much more than expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had anticipated growth of 2.1%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury grew, lowering yields to 4.25% from Wednesday’s 4.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 60 cents at $78.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices scaled back $53.20 to $2,362.50