Canada's main stock index opened sharply lower on Friday, dragged down by commodity-linked shares, as gold sank after U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair and oil retreated on easing supply disruption concerns in Iran.
The TSX index plummeted 631.22 points to begin Friday at 32,384.91.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.18 cents at 73.93 cents U.S.
Speculation that the next Fed Chair would be more hawkish than current Chair Jerome Powell intensified after Trump's meeting with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh at the White House on Thursday.
Warsh has been critical of Fed policy under Powell and said earlier that the central bank needs a "regime change".
Meanwhile, Trump, in a post on social media, threatened the decertification of Bombardier Global Express business jets and 50% import tariffs on all aircraft made in Canada, until the country's regulator certified a number of planes produced by the Canadian jet maker's U.S. rival Gulfstream.
Bombardier trudged lower $16.94, or 6.8%, to $230.59.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported November GDP came in essentially unchanged.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange let go of 35.49 points, or 3.2%, to 1,062.80.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour, with gold withering 7%, materials off 6.2%, and industrials stumbling 1.3%.
Only one subgroup registered at least breakeven, and that was telecoms.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks headed lower on Friday as technology shares continued to be in a funk, even as investors largely approved of President Donald Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 looked to squeak out a January gain, despite Friday’s losses.
The Dow Jones Industrials floundered 121.52 points to begin the week’s last session at 48.950.05.
The much-broader index skidded 10.87 points to 6,958.14.
The NASDAQ lost 38.93 points to 23,646.20.
Despite Friday’s weakness, the major averages were headed for a positive month. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ were all up more than 1% for January.
Apple shares inched lower even after the company beat fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, aided by a significant surge in iPhone sales.
Data storage stock Sandisk popped 22% on the back of strong guidance. KLA Corp lost 8% after guidance for non-GAAP gross margin in the fiscal third quarter came in light.
Warsh’s selection was likely to ease concern about Fed independence because of his experience as a Fed governor and strong stance at times against inflation.
While he is likely to push for lower rates in short term as Trump wants, the financial markets view him as someone who wouldn’t always follow the president’s direction and maintain credibility for monetary policy.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dipped a bit Friday, raising yields to 4.25% from Thursday’s 4.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tacked on 20 cents to $65.62 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices staggered $318.40 to $5000.00 U.S. an ounce.
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