Equities in Canada's main stock index was muted at the open on Thursday as the Bank of Canada's surprise interest rate hike continued to dent investor sentiment, while gains in oil and precious metal prices offered some relief.
The TSX retreated 95.84 points to begin trading Thursday at 19,887.85.
The Canadian dollar poked ahead 0.09 cents to 74.86 cents U.S.
Many sectors were in the red in the first hour. Gold and other resources were among those trying to point forward, most notably Equinox Gold, up 23 cents, or 3.6%, to $6.57, while Eldorado Gold acquired 30 cents, or 2.3%, to $13.32.
First Majestic Silver collected 25 cents, or 3.3%, to $7.94, while K92 Mining climbed 17 cents, or 3%, to $5.88.
On the downside, communications firms such as TELUS, dipped 53 cents, or 2.1%, to $25.29, while Rogers dumped 77 cents, or 1.3%, to $57.92.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange skidded 3.03 points to 609.25.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups moved lower by the close, with information technology down 3.6%, while gold dulled in price 1.8%, and consumer staples were lower 1.5%.
The five gainers were led by energy, up 1.2%, industrials, ahead 0.6%, and communications, progressing 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed Thursday, as investors awaited the next market catalyst and digested the recent rally.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 78.13 points to start Thursday at 33,743.15.
The much-broader S&P 500 recovered 8.54 points to 4,276.06.
The NASDAQ index was back in the gain column, 53.66 points to 13,158.55.
GameStop shares tumbled roughly 19% after the video game retailer announced CEO Matthew Furlong’s firing. It also appointed Ryan Cohen as its executive chairman.
Meanwhile, mega-cap tech stocks underperformed for a second day. Shares of Microsoft pared back 2.7% and Google lost 3.3%. Semiconductor giant Nvidia lost an additional 1.1%, while Amazon declined 3.1%.
New weekly jobless claims data released on Thursday showed initial jobless claims reached their highest level since October 2021, indicating a potentially softening labor market. The uptick also raised expectations the Federal Reserve would pause its rate-hiking campaign at its meeting next week.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, dropping yields to 3.74% from Wednesday’s 3.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 45 cents to $72.08 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shot higher $23.20 to $1,981.60 U.S. an ounce.
