Canada's main stock index opened lower on Monday, dragged down by technology stocks as a spike in U.S. Treasury yields powered concerns over prospective higher interest rates.
The S&P/TSX Composite stumbled 151.64 to start the week at 20,932.81.
The Canadian dollar hesitated 0.23 cents to 78.83 cents U.S.
CIBC cut the rating on Information Services Corp. to neutral from outperform. Information Services docked four cents to $25.88.
Canaccord Genuity raised the rating on Teck Resources to buy from hold. Teck gained 43 cents, or 1.4%, to $30.84.
Canaccord Genuity raised the rating on Turquoise Hill Resources to hold from sell. Turquoise Hill picked up 44 cents, or 2.3%, to $19.92.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing ahead with a vaccine mandate for international truckers despite increasing pressure from critics who say it will exacerbate driver shortages and drive up the price of goods imported from the United States.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange caved 14.6 points, or 1.6%, to 896.86.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative in the first hour, with information technology down 2.5%, consumer discretionary stocks off 1.2%, and industrials slipping 1%.
The two gainers were health-care, up 3.1%, and gold, eking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell Monday morning, extending a rocky start to 2022 for equity markets as interest rates rise.
The Dow Jones Industrials wilted 424.8 points, or 1.2%, to 35,806.86.
The S&P 500 fell 81.63 points, or 1.7%, to 4,595.40.
The NASDAQ docked 346.33 points, or 2.3%, at 14,587.45. The NASDAQ is now down more than 6% for the year and is roughly 10% below its intraday record high from November.
The S&P 500 and NASDAQ are coming off four straight days of losses, while the Dow has retreated in three consecutive sessions.
Large tech stocks were under pressure in early trading, with shares of Facebook-parent Meta down 3% and Amazon and Alphabet retreating 2%. Shares of video game publisher Take-Two fell more than 11% after the company announced a deal to purchase Zynga.
On Sunday, Goldman Sachs projected the Federal Reserve to hike rates four times in 2022, signaling that Wall Street increasingly expects the central bank to get aggressive in an attempt to curb inflation.
Earnings season also kicks off this week. The S&P 500 is expected to show a growth rate of 21.7%, which would be the fourth straight quarter above 20%
Financial heavyweights JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo release quarterly results Friday.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys fell, raising yields to 1.81% from Friday’s 1.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell $1.04 to $77.86 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices ducked $3.90 to $1,793.50 U.S. an ounce.
