Equities in Toronto suffered along with their American cousins Thursday in a general malaise following the half-percentage-point hike in interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P/TSX Composite weakened 488.78 points, or 2.3%, to close a disastrous session at 20,696.17.
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.61 cents at 77.90 cents U.S.
Tech stocks absorbed much of the investor punishment, with Shopify suffering $94.52, or 15.3%, to $523.78, while Docebo falling $6.73, or 11.2%, to $53.48.
Cannabis stocks also got bruised, with Canopy Growth sinking 82 cents, or 9.6%, to $7.75, while Aurora Cannabis trailed Wednesday by 37 cents, or 9.1%, to $3.72.
Among materials, First Majestic Silver lost 95 cents, or 7%, to $12.60, while Fortuna Silver Mines swooned 36 cents, or 7.7%, to $4.29.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped 23.69 points, or 2.9%, to 783.69.
All 12 TSX subgroups took a pounding on the day, with information technology plunging 6.8%, health-care down 6%, and materials weaker by 3.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks pulled back sharply on Thursday, completely erasing a rally from the prior session in a stunning reversal that delivered investors one of the worst days since 2020.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 1,063.09 points, or 3.1%, to 32,997.97.
The NASDAQ Composite went south 647.16 points, or 5%, to 12,317.69. Both of those losses were the worst single-day drops since 2020.
The S&P 500 faltered 153.3 points, or 3.6%, to 4,146.87, its second worst day of the year.
Large tech stocks were under pressure, with Facebook-parent Meta Platforms docking 5.8% and Amazon falling 7.1%. Microsoft dropped 4.7%. Salesforce tumbled 6.3%.
E-commerce stocks were a key source of weakness on Thursday following some disappointing quarterly reports.
Etsy gave back 15% and eBay dropped 8%, after issuing weaker-than-expected revenue guidance. Shopify fell more than 17% after missing estimates on the top and bottom lines.
The declines put the tech-heavy NASDAQ on track for one of its worst days since the pandemic began.
The Fed increased its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points, as expected, and said it would begin reducing its balance sheet in June.
However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during his news conference that the central bank is “not actively considering” a larger 75-basis-point rate hike, which appeared to spark a rally.
Still, the Fed remains open to the prospect of taking rates above neutral to rein in inflation
In economic data, weekly jobless claims came in slightly higher than expected and labor productivity dropped 7.5% in the first quarter for its fastest decline since 1947.
Treasury prices jumped, with yields falling to 3.03% from Wednesday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 46 cents to $108.27 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on $10.40 to $1,879.20 U.S. an ounce.
