The TSX extended its losses Wednesday, on the heels of the continuous slide in almost all of the major sectors. Energy stocks were still on a rally, keeping losses in check.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 151.89 points, or 1%, to close Wednesday at 14,929.37, after Tuesday’s hike of more than 120 points.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.06 cents to 79.94 cents U.S.
Mining stocks declined due to falling copper prices. Sherritt International shaved off three cents to $2.26, while Teck Resources stepped back 81 cents, or 4.2%, to $18.53
Health-care issues such as Valeant Pharmaceuticals gave back $8.59, or 3.4%, to $245.11
Info tech and utilities dropped 1.79% and 1.12%, respectively. BlackBerry backtracked 31 cents, or 2.6%, to $11.61, while Canadian Utilities toppled $1.17, or 2.8%, to $40.30.
On the positive side, energy was the lone gainer, as Imperial Oil acquired a penny to $50.57.
In Toronto, Bombardier was the most heavily traded stock, and gained six cents, or 2.4%, to $2.54.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 3.04 points to 677.24
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower on the day, as metals and mining stocks sank 3.1%, while health-care dipped 2.4%, and information technology slipped 2.2%.
The lone gainer was in energy, better by 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks plunged on Wednesday, closing more than 1 percent lower as investors weighed the impact of the strong dollar on the economy and the coming earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrials descended 292.60 points, or 1.6%, to 17,718.54, as all the major indices declined, giving back gains from the rally after last week's Fed announcement.
The S&P 500 lost 30.45 points, or 1.5%, to 2,061.05. The NASDAQ index shed 118.21 points, or 2.4%, to 4,876.52.
Kraft Foods surged more than 30% to open at an all-time high following morning news that the firm will merge with Heinz to form Kraft Heinz, with Heinz shareholders owning 51% of the combined company and Kraft shareholders owning 49%. Kraft shareholders will also receive a special dividend of $16.50 U.S. per share.
American Express CEO Ken Chenault outlines the financial services giant's future plans in a presentation to investors today. American Express has faced bumpy times in recent months, including the loss of its long-standing partnership with Costco.
Facebook kicks off its annual developer conference today, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg among the speakers. The conference will run for two days instead of one for the first time.
The Consumer Products Safety Commission confirmed it is investigating the safety concerns raised about the Lumber Liquidators' flooring products in a recent "60 Minutes" segment.
PVH, Red Hat and Five Below post earnings after the bell.
The U.S. dollar edged about half a percentage point lower against major world currencies but still held onto gains of more than 7% year-to-date. Equities have tended to rise with a weaker dollar and decline with dollar gains.
February's durable goods orders fell 1.4%, missing expectations of a modest pick-up. The core non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft also fell 1.4% last month. The report marked the sixth straight month of declines, likely weighed down by the strong dollar and weak global demand.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries moved a bit lower, raising yields to 1.88% from Tuesday’s 1.87%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved ahead $1.46 to $48.97 U.S.
Gold prices moved higher by $3.70 to $1,195.10 U.S.
