Futures for Canada's main stock index slumped on Friday, mirroring losses on Wall Street, as hawkish commentary from major central banks this week heightened fears of a global recession.
The TSX Composite fell 291.02 points, or 1.5%, to end Thursday at 19,600.63.
Futures on the S&P/TSX index were down 1% Friday morning.
The Canadian dollar inched down 0.4 cents to 73.18 cents U.S.
In company news, global miner Rio Tinto Ltd said it had completed its long, drawn-out acquisition of the remaining 49% stake in Canadian Turquoise Hill Resources.
CIBC cut renewable energy producer Transalta Renewables to "neutral" from "outperform".
In matters macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported that October wholesale trade rose 2.1% to $83.4 billion in October. The agency went on to say the largest increases were in the miscellaneous goods, the building material and supplies, and the personal and household goods subsectors.
Foreign investors acquired $8.5 billion of Canadian securities in October, following a significant divestment of $22.5 billion in September. Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $1.7 billion, after buying $10.4 billion in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 4.68 points Thursday to 570.79.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures were lower Friday morning as investors continued to dump stocks into year-end on fears a recession is ahead next year because of the Federal Reserve’s unrelenting rate hiking.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials blundered 315 points, or 0.9%, early Friday to 33,120.
Futures for the S&P 500 slumped 36.75 points, or 0.9%, to 3,890.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite jettisoned 60.25 points, or 0.5%, to 11,396.75.
Stocks which would suffer in a recession declined in premarket trading Friday. GM and Caterpillar were each off more than 1% in premarket trading.
Meanwhile, shares of Olive Garden-parent Darden Restaurants rose slightly in the premarket after reporting earnings that topped estimates.
Trading could be especially volatile Friday with a large amount of options set to expire. There are $2.6 trillion worth of index options set to expire, the highest amount “relative to the size of the equity market in nearly two years,” according to Goldman Sachs.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.9% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index squeezed 0.1% upward.
Oil prices gave back $1.69 to $74.42 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $5.80 to $1,793.60 U.S. an ounce.
