A tumble in shares of energy companies pressured Canada's main stock index on Wednesday, as crude prices slumped to their lowest in seven months.
The S&P/TSX Composite made its way out of the red and gained 11.36 points to greet noon at 16,160.85
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.28 cents to 75.01 cents U.S.
Energy companies were the biggest decliners on the TSX. Nuvista Energy plummeted 44 cents, or 17%, to $2.15, while Ensign Energy Services slipped 25 cents, or 6.9%, to $3.35.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were gold miners B2gold Corp, which jumped 55 cents, or 11.8%, to $5.18, and Semafo, which rose 45 cents, or 8.9%, to $5.49.
On the economic front, Western University’s Ivey Purchasing Managers Index for July registered at 54.2 in July, compared to 52.4 in June, but still well below the 61.8 reading in August 2018
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange maintained gains of 1.87 points to 596.56
Seven of the 12 Toronto subgroups had turned positive midday, as gold brightened 4.2%, materials strengthened 2.2%, and real-estate cliumbed 0.6%
The five laggards were weighed most by energy, dropping 1.7% in price, health-care, fading 1.5%, and financials, poorer by 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Wednesday, adding to the month’s steep losses, as a drop in global bond yields raised concerns about a slowing global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials erased Tuesday’s gains, plummeting 359.99 points, or 1.4%, to 25,669.53
The S&P 500 fell 32.14 points, or 1.1%, to 2,849.63
The NASDAQ swooned 61.91 points to 7,771.35.
Bank stocks, including J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America, led the decline as they are the one sector with the most to lose from falling interest rates. J.P. Morgan shares slid 2.8% while Bank of America dropped 3.3%.
In corporate news, Disney shares slid on weaker-than-expected results for the previous quarter. Disney’s results were weighed down by increasing losses in streaming services such as Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+. The media giant also blamed the integration of Fox’s entertainment assets for the weak numbers. Disney shares traded down more than 5%.
Wednesday’s losses brought both the Dow and S&P 500 down more than 4% for the month. The NASDAQ was down 4.8% for August.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained sharply, dropping yields to 1.62% from Tuesday’s 1.72%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices slid $2.77 to $50.86 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices popped $34.10 to $1,518.30 U.S. an ounce.
August Woes Plague Equity Markets
Related Stories
