It was an "ebb-and-flow" kind of session on Bay Street, with equities finishing lower yet again, weighed by consumer and industrial stocks.
The TSX Composite lost 54.95 points to finish Thursday at 20,103.19
The Canadian dollar regained 0.58 cents to 78.99 cents U.S.
Consumer discretionary proved the biggest millstone around the index’s collective neck, with BRP Inc. plunging $5.45, or 4.4%, to $117.75, while Sleep Country Canada dozed $2.49, or 6.9%, to $33.75.
In industrials, Aecon Group docked 83 cents, or 4.1%, to $19.25, while Badger Infrastructure Solutions slid $1.21, or 3.4%, to $33.93.
In financials, Laurentian Bank sank 58 cents, or 1.4%, to $40.31, while Manulife Financial fell 32 cents, or 1.3%, to $24.43
Gold tried to balance things out, Torex Gold Resources picking up 34 cents, or 2.8%, to $12.59, while New Gold moving up four cents, or 3%, to $1.36.
In the energy patch, Tourmaline Oil hiked $1.41, or 3.3%, to $44.29, while Arc Resources gathered 41 cents, or 3.6%, to $11.91.
Materials also strengthened, with Capstone Mining increasing 19 cents, or 4%, to $4.94, while Lithium Americas leaping $2.25, or 8.2%, to $28.30.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 2.5 points to 858.77
The 12 TSX sectors were evenly divided, with consumer discretionary stocks shrinking 1.4%, while industrials and financials each off 0.4%.
The half-dozen gainers were propelled by gold, up 1.6%, energy, up 0.9%, and materials, better by 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks pulled back on Thursday as Wall Street wrapped up its worst month of the year on a sour note.
The Dos Jones Industrials plunged 546.8 points, or 1.6%, to 33,843.92, after rising at the opening bell.
The S&P 500 dropped 51.92 points, or 1.2%, to 4,307.54.
The NASDAQ Composite faded 63.86 points, or 0.4%, to 14,448.58.
The S&P 500 finished September down more than 4% for its worst month since March 2020, when the pandemic caused a major market
selloff. The Dow and the NASDAQ suffered their worst months in 2021.
September’s losses led to a weak third quarter for the market. For the three-month period, the Dow dropped 1.9%, while the NASDAQ shed 0.3%. The S&P 500 held on to a modest gain and is still up 15% on the year.
Concerns about inflation and supply chain issues continued to hamper the markets on Thursday. Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond fell more than 20% in early trading after the company said those issues hurt the company’s second quarter results, and the news also weighed on fellow retail stocks. Walgreens Boots Alliance and Home Depot fell more than 2%, making them two of the worst performers in the Dow.
Energy and financial stocks, which have been some of the best performers in recent weeks, took a step back on Thursday. Shares of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan were down by more than 1%.
Shares of Apple and Amazon finished the day in negative territory after moving higher in morning trading. Chip giant Nvidia and Netflix managed to hold on to their gains but closed well off session highs.
On the data front, initial jobless claims for the prior week came in at 362,000. Economists are expecting a print of 335,000, according to Dow Jones.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys were higher, lowering yields to 1.50% from Wednesday’s 1.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 18 cents to $75.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices popped $33.90 to $1,759.00 U.S. an ounce.
