Canada's main stock index tumbled on Friday, hammered by plunging mining shares, as gold slumped after U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh - often viewed as hawkish - as the new Federal Reserve chair.
The TSX index stumbled 1,092.61 points, or 3.3%, to close Friday at 31,923,55. On the week, the index collapsed 1,221 points, or 3.7%.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.66 cents at 73.45 cents U.S.
Among individual stocks, Imperial Oil fell $5.07, or 3.6%, to $137.57, after the oil producer's fourth-quarter profit fell.
Meanwhile, Trump, in a post on social media, threatened the decertification of Bombardier Global Express business jets and 50% import tariffs on all aircraft made in Canada, until the country's regulator certified a number of planes produced by the Canadian jet maker's U.S. rival Gulfstream.
Bombardier trudged lower $14.97, or 6.1%, to $232.56.
Speculation that the next Fed Chair would be more hawkish than current Chair Jerome Powell intensified after Trump's meeting with former
Fed Governor Kevin Warsh at the White House on Thursday.
Warsh has been critical of Fed policy under Powell and said earlier that the central bank needs a "regime change".
Gold and materials were the worst hit of all subgroups, Novagold reeled $2.95, or 19.9%, to close the day at $11.87, while New Gold withered $2.65, or 16.2%, to $13.68.
Endeavour Silver plunged $2.86, or 16.1%, to $14.86, while Silvercorp Metals shed $2.63, or 16.1%, to $13.71.
In tech stocks, Sylogist dropped 38 cents, or 8.6%, to $4.04, while Shopify got belted $14.86, or 7.7%, to $178.67.
Telecoms tried to pull things up, with BCE growing 83 cents, or 2.4%, to $35.20, while Quebecor took on $1.06, or 2.2%.
Health-care stocks moved up, as Bausch Health Companies added 26 cents, or 3.4%, to $49.63.
In utilities, Brookfield Renewable Energy jumped $2.31, or 6%, to $40.62, while Algonquin Power grew 22 cents, or 2.5%, to $8.94.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported November GDP came in essentially unchanged.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange let go of 57.21 points, or 5.2%, to 1,051.08. a weekly loss of 103 points, or 8.9%,
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in on the day, as gold dulled 12.1%, materials lost 10.7%, and information technology plunged 3.6%.
The three gainers were telecoms, up 0.9%, while health-care and utilities each poked up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks retreated on Friday as technology shares remained in a funk, even as investors largely approved of President Donald Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve. Still, the S&P 500 squeaked out a January gain, despite Friday’s losses and volatile trading this month.
The Dow Jones Industrials cratered 139.09 points to close the week at 48,892.97.
The much-broader index skidded 29.98 points to 6,939.03.
The NASDAQ lost 223.71 points to 22,461.82.
Apple shares inched lower even after the company beat fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, aided by a significant surge in iPhone sales. Data storage stock Sandisk popped 12% on the back of strong guidance. KLA Corp lost 13% after guidance for non-GAAP gross margin in the fiscal third quarter came in light.
Despite Friday’s weakness, the major averages were headed for a positive month. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ were all up more than 1% for January.
Warsh’s selection was likely to ease concern about Fed independence because of his experience as a Fed governor and strong stance at times against inflation.
While he is likely to push for lower rates in short term as Trump wants, the financial markets view him as someone who wouldn’t always follow the president’s direction and maintain credibility for monetary policy.
Apple ticked lower despite beating fiscal first-quarter expectations and reporting a significant surge in iPhone sales. That slide follows Microsoft’s 10% post-earnings drop on Thursday, marking its worst day since 2020 and wiping out more than $350 billion in market cap.
KLA Corp lost 13% on Friday after its forecast suggested a deceleration in growth.
But outside of tech, Verizon shares surged more than 11%, on track for their best day since 2008. The telecommunications giant beat analyst expectations and providing a strong full-year outlook for earnings.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dipped a bit Friday, raising yields to 4.25% from Thursday’s 4.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tacked on 36 cents to $65.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices staggered $517.40 to $4,801 U.S. an ounce.
