Canada’s main stock index opened sharply lower on Thursday, weighed down by energy stocks as oil prices dropped and on fears that the United States’ plans to impose import tariffs on China could kindle a global trade war.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 120.56 points to begin Thursday at 15,554.72
The Canadian dollar inched lower 0.05 cents at 77.48 cents U.S.
Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover will use BlackBerry’s infotainment and security software in its vehicles. BlackBerry shares began Thursday unchanged from Wednesday’s close at $16.96.
Cenovus Energy said it was running oil sands production below capacity and stockpiling excess oil due to trouble with exporting through maxed-out pipelines to the United States.
Cenovus shares faded 52 cents, or 4.5%, to $11.00.
CIBC cut the price target on AGT Food and Ingredients to $19 from $20. AGT shares gained six cents to $16.30.
Jefferies raised the target price on Boyd Group Income Fund to $122.00 from $115.00. Boyd units garnered $1.46, or 1.4%, to $107.94.
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on LXRandCo to $9.00 from $12.00, with a buy rating. LXRand shares plummeted 59 cents, or nearly 16%, to $3.11.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that during January, those of us drawing regular Employment Insurance benefits decreased by 5,800 or 1.2% in January to 494,200, continuing a downward trend that began in October 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 6.64 points to 824.51
All 12 TSX subgroups were negative in the first hour, weighed most by energy, down 1.4%, health-care, subsiding 1.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks, off 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday as tech shares declined. Stocks were also pressured by worries of a potential trade war.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 210.86 points to 24,471.45, with Caterpillar and Boeing as the biggest decliners.
The S&P 500 lopped 5.01 points to 2,711.93, with tech dropping 1%.
The NASDAQ composite Index slid 19.02 points to 7,345.29
Tech shares have been under pressure lately amid a sharp decline in Facebook shares. News broke recently that data research firm Cambridge Analytica gathered data from 50 million Facebook profiles without the permission of its users. Shares of Facebook have been under pressure all week, sliding 8.5% through Wednesday's close.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence over the news, telling media outlets it had been "a major breach of trust, and I'm really sorry that this happened."
Stocks were also pressured as the Trump administration was set to announce later on Thursday tariffs designed to punish China for intellectual property theft. Some reports indicate the administration will slap $50 billion in tariffs to Chinese goods.
Investors also digested the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision. As widely expected by the markets, the Fed raised interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday and upgraded its economic outlook, saying that economic activity and jobs gains had been strong in recent months.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note vaulted sharply, to lower yields back to 2.82% from Wednesday’s 2.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved back 57 cents a barrel to $64.60 U.S.
Gold prices gained $8.40 to $1,329.90 U.S. an ounce.
