Stocks in Toronto dropped sharply Thursday, weighed by heavy losses among health-care and energy issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index faltered 120.13 points to close Thursday at 16,016.46
The Canadian dollar regained 0.22 cents to 78.23 cents U.S.
Among health-care concerns, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International tumbled $3.14, or 11.1%, to $25.16. Tecsys lost three cents to $16.57.
The energy group slipped as TransCanada Corporation dumped 71 cents, or 1.1%, to $61.78, while Imperial Oil ditched 50 cents, or 1.3%, to $37.95.
Among telecoms, Rogers Communications sank 14 cents to $64.91, while TELUS Corp. fell 62 cents, or 1.3%, to $47.98.
Real-estate stocks provided one of the few bright spots, as Atrium Mortgage Investment Corporation gained four cents to $12.53, while units of RIOCAN Real Estate Investment Trust picked up 10 cents to $24.95.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Mitel Network, which rose $1.02, or 10.8% to $10.47 after an analyst upgraded the stock to a "buy",
On the economic front, Statistics Canada revealed In October, new house prices in Canada rose 3.5% year over year, down from this year's largest increase of 3.9%.
Vancouver, up 8.4%, and London, ahead 8.1%, had the largest 12-month increases among the surveyed metropolitan areas.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 0.37 points to 798.20
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower on the day, as health-care went south 3.1%, energy lost 1.2%, and telecoms skidded 1.1%
Only real-estate, more solid by 0.3%, and utilities, eking up 0.02%, escaped the negative vibes.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday as Wall Street awaited the final version of Congress' tax overhaul plan.
The Dow Jones industrials lost 76.77 points from Wednesday’s record close to 24,508.66. The index also snapped a five-day winning streak.
The S&P 500 skidded 10.84 points to 2,652.01, with health-care and materials as the worst-performing sectors.
The NASDAQ composite index deducted 19.27 points to 6,856.53
Wall Street has been eagerly awaiting the tax bill, which if passed would slash the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%.
Disney said Thursday it will pay $52.4 billion in stock to buy Fox's movie studios, network Nat Geo, and Asian pay-TV operator Star TV, among other assets.
The acquisition bolsters Disney's plans to become a dominant streaming service platform, making it a bigger threat to Netflix.
Shares of Disney sprouted 2.8% higher, while Fox grew 6.5% by the closing bell.
The deal comes at a time when mega-deals have fallen significantly. PwC said in a report Thursday that mega-deals —those worth more than $5 billion — are down this year to 38 from 58 in 2016.
Elsewhere, Jabil Inc. announced earnings, and lost $1.08 in price on stock markets, or 3.8%, to $27.45.
On Thursday, Wall Street received a slew of economic data. Weekly jobless claims totaled 225,000, well below an estimate of 239,000.
Meanwhile, retail sales rose 0.8% in November versus an estimated increase of 0.3%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained back lost ground, lowering yields back to Wednesday’s 2.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 53 cents a barrel to $57.13 U.S.
Gold prices moved up $6.90 to $1,255.50 U.S. an ounce.
