Canadian stocks fell on Thursday, weighed down by hefty losses in health-care and energy stocks amid a broad based selloff in global equities.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lurched lower 127.7 points to greet noon Thursday at 15,389.70
The Canadian dollar ducked 0.05 cents to 76.59 cents U.S.
Aphria -- which tumbled 79 cents, or 3.9%, to $19.27 --was among the top decliners on the main index, after the cannabis producer said there was no investment deal in place. In the previous session, the stock jumped 15% on a report that Altria Group was in talks for acquiring a stake.
On the positive side, Barrick Gold rose 88 cents, or 5.9%, to $15.89, after affirming its 2018 gold and copper production forecasts, reflecting improvement in operations.
Among the largest percentage gainers on the TSX was Celestica, which jumped $1.02, or 7.8%, to $14.10, after brokerage Macquarie upgraded the stock to "outperform".
Fortuna Silver Mines fell 24 cents, or 4.3%, to $5.31, after reporting production results for the third-quarter.
Baytex Energy lost 13 cents, or 3.8%, to $3.34.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported its new housing price index was unchanged, despite growth in some markets. The agency says that in August, builders in 18 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed reported flat or decreasing prices.
The Canada-level index stood at 103.3 in August and has not risen above that mark since November 2017.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 4.77 points to 687.79
Eight of the 12 subgroups were down Thursday, as health-care ailed 2.5%, energy and financials each slid 1.6%,
The four gainers were led by gold, sprinting ahead 5%, while materials grew 2.1%, and information technology clicked higher 0.5%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks seesawed in volatile trading Thursday, a day after the major indexes suffered steep losses sparked by higher rates and a selloff in tech shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slouched 148.1 points to move into noon hour at 25,450.64, bringing its two-day losses to more than 900 points.
The S&P 500 sank 19.19 points to 2,766.49, and was on pace for a six-day losing streak. The broad index also broke below its 200-day moving average for the first time since May.
The NASDAQ slumped 5.82 points to 7,416.23. Facebook rose more than 1% while Alphabet gained 0.8%. Apple, meanwhile, gained 0.2%.
Thursday's moves come a day after the Dow sank more than 800 points and the S&P 500 dropped more than 3%. It was also the 28th time since 2011 the much-broader index posted a more than 2% decline
Tech's bounce came after the U.S. government said the consumer price index rose 0.1% in September, well below the expected gain of 0.2%.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 3.17% from Wednesday’s 3.20%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices surrendered $1.79 at $71.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices strengthened $28.80 to $1,222.20 U.S. an ounce.
