Canada's main stock index slumped to a low of more than a month on Thursday, with technology and commodity-linked stocks dragging the resources-heavy index as hawkish Federal Reserve commentary dampened risk sentiment.
The TSX Composite stumbled 344.77 points, or 1.7%, to pause for lunch at 19,546.88.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.46 cents at 73.33 cents U.S.
Gold stocks took the morning hard, with OceanaGold falling 11 cents, or 4.1%, to $2.55, while Alamos Gold lost 57 cents, or 4.2%, to $12.89.
Among other metals, Ivanhoe Mines dumped $1.05, or 8.6%, to $11.23, while Lithium Americas stumbled $1.52, or 4.7%, to $30.86.
In things macroeconomic, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says housing starts the trend in housing starts was 267,365 units in November, up from 264,583 units in October.
The Canadian Real Estate Association reported national home sales declined by 3.3% month-over-month in November. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 38.9% below November 2021.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange swooned 8.43 points, or 1.5%, to 567.04.
All 12 subgroups lost ground by midday, with gold and materials each plunging 2.7%, and information technology falling 2.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply Thursday after new data showed retail sales fell more than expected in November, raising fears that the Federal Reserve’s relentless interest rate hikes are tipping the economy into a recession.
The Dow Jones Industrials collapsed 812.66 points, or 2.4%, to reach midday Thursday at 33,153.69.
The S&P 500 folded 104.11 points, or 2.6%, to 3,891.21.
The NASDAQ Composite Index dropped 334.18 points, or 3%, to 10,836.71.
The selloff was broad-based with only 17 stocks in the S&P 500 trading in positive territory. Mega-cap tech stocks declined, with shares of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet each down more than 3%.
Shares of Netflix fell more than 7% following a Digiday report that the streaming firm is offering to return money to advertisers after missing viewership targets.
Investors absorbed a disappointing retail sales report that suggested inflation is taking a toll on consumers. Retail sales fell 0.6% in November, according to the Commerce Department. That was a bigger loss than the Dow Jones estimate of a 0.3% decline.
The central bank said it will continue hiking rates through 2023 and projected its fed funds rate to peak at a higher-than-expected 5.1%.
With Wednesday’s half a percentage point hike, the targeted range for rates is currently 4.25% to 4.5%, the highest in 15 years.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were up slightly, lowering yields to 3.45% from Wednesday’s 3.48%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked $1.71 to $75.57 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked $32.20 to $1,786.50 U.S. an ounce.
