Equities in Canada’s largest market fell on Wednesday, driven by declines in energy and industrial stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index faltered 336.65 points, or 2.1%, to finish Wednesday’s trading at 15,517.40
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.56 cents to 76.69 cents U.S.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its world Gross Domestic Product forecasts for the first time in two years and slashed expectations for emerging markets for 2019.
Bombardier, falling back 27 cents, or 6.4%, weighed most heavily on the industrial sector, while Canadian Pacific Railway tumbled $19.18, or 6.6%, to $269.52.
Among energy issues, Suncor moved lower $1.66, or 3.3%, to $48.76, while Canadian Natural Resources weakened $1.22, or 3%, to $39.12.
An anomaly in the sector proved to be Parkland Fuel, which jumped $2.14, or 5.1%, to $44.33, after the marketer of petroleum products said it would buy a 75% stake in privately held SOL Investments and its units for $1.57 billion.
Among tech issues, BlackBerry took its lumps, retreating 50 cents, or 4%, to $12.15, while Constellation Software ailed $35.31, or 3.9%, to $881.70.
Buffering the effect of these losses, Celestica rose 19 cents, or 1.5%, to $13.11, and was the second biggest gainer on the main index after the electronics manufacturer entered a deal to buy Impakt Holdings for $329 million.
Gold stocks did their best, with Barrick Gold gaining 37 cents, or 2.5%, to $15.02, while Kinross Gold shone brighter 16 cents, or 4.5%, to $3.71.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported Canadian municipalities issued $8.1 billion worth of building permits in August, up 0.4% from July. Strength in the non-residential sector drove the increase, while the residential sector declined for the third consecutive month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slouched 10.39 points, or 1.5%, to 692.57
All but one of the 12 subgroups were down Wednesday, as industrials sank 4.8%, energy skidded 3.9%, and information technology lost 3.5%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks sank on Wednesday as a steep decline in tech shares and worries of rapidly rising rates sent Wall Street on pace for its worst day in months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jettisoned 831.83 points, or 3.2%, to close a brutal day at 25,598.74, as Intel and Microsoft fell more than 3.5% each.
The S&P 500 let go of 94.66 points, or 3.3%, to 2,785.68, with the tech sector underperforming. The broad index also posted a five-day losing streak — its longest since November 2016 — and fell below its 50-day and 100-day moving averages, widely followed technical levels.
The NASDAQ dropped 315.97 points, or 4.1%, to 7,422.05
Both the Dow and S&P 500 posted their biggest one-day drops since early February, while the NASDAQ notched its largest single day selloff since June 24, 2016.
The major indexes have fallen sharply this month. For October, the S&P 500 has decreased 4.4%, and the Dow is down 3.3%. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, has lost more than 7.5%.
Rising rate fears and a pivot out of technology stocks have made it a rough last few days. The S&P 500 is down for five straight days. The Dow has dropped four of the last five sessions, losing about 900 points over that span.
Shares of Amazon declined 6.2% on Wednesday, while Netflix slid 8.4% Facebook and Apple also fell more than 4% each. These stocks are top performers for the year and for most of the bull market.
For the overall tech sector in the S&P 500, it was the worst day in seven years.
Rates rose on Wednesday after the U.S. government released data showing a rebound in producer prices last month. The producer price index rose 0.2% in September and is up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. The index is a widely followed metric of inflation.
The recent rise in rates comes ahead of the start of the latest earnings season. Banks like Citigroup and Wells Fargo are scheduled to report later this week. Overall, analysts expect third-quarter earnings to have risen by 19% on a year-over-year basis.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to Tuesday’s 3.20%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices surrendered $2.16 at $72.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on five dollars to $1,196.50 U.S. an ounce.
