Canada's main stock index dropped at open on Thursday as oil prices fell over 2% and as the Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said the economy was weaker than forecast and predicted low oil prices would cut growth.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gave back Wednesday’s triple-digit gains and then some, hurtling lower 326 points, or 2.2%, to begin Thursday at 14,855.98
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.27 cents to 74.57 U.S.
Dollarama reported a 2.7% rise in quarterly profit, as customers spent more at its stores.
Dollarama slid $5.76, or 15.2%, to $32.03.
Bombardier said it expects to deliver 150 to 155 business aircraft in 2019.
Bombardier ducked 11 cents, or 5%, to $2.09.
Independent proxy adviser Glass Lewis and hedge fund Livermore Partners on Wednesday joined activist investor Paulson & Co's call to make changes to the board of Canadian miner Detour Gold, whose shares dropped a penny to $10.42.
Cormark Securities cut the rating on Bank of Montreal to market perform from buy. BMO shares lost 72 cents to $93.27.
CIBC cut the price target on Laurentian Bank of Canada to $43.00 from $47.00. Laurentian shares jettisoned $1.70, or 4.3%, to $38.12.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported this country’s exports fell 1.2% in October, while imports were down 0.6%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $891 million in September to $1.2 billion in October.
Western University’s IVEY School of Business reported that its Purchasing Managers Index for November registered at 57.2, below the reading of 61.8 for October, and 63 for November 2017.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange squeaked 0.97 points higher to 564.08.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were in minus country to begin the session, with consumer discretionary stocks skidding 4.5%, energy faltering 3.6%, and materials in reverse 2.1%.
Only health-care kept things from being unanimous, gaining 1.5%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Thursday as continuing fears over U.S.-China trade relations and concern over a possible global economic slowdown kept investors on edge.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average loosed 456.83 points, or 1.8%, to begin Thursday’s session at 24,570.24, bringing its two-day losses to more than 1,250.
The S&P 500 dropped 45.74 points, or 1.7%, to 2,654.32.
The NASDAQ lost 89.31 points, or 1.3%, to 7,069.12
Shares of major banks like J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America all traded lower on Thursday.
Facebook shares fell more than 1.5% after Stifel downgraded them to hold from buy.
Apple’s stock dropped 3% after UBS said in a note it sees the weakest “purchase intent” for the iPhone in five years. The bank cut its 12-month price target on Apple to $210 from $225.
Trade fears ratcheted up after news broke Wednesday that Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested by Canadian authorities in Vancouver, where she faces extradition to the U.S. The arrest — which took place Dec. 1 — decreases the likelihood that a permanent U.S.-China trade deal will be reached. Huawei is one of the largest mobile phone makers in the world.
Meng’s arrest comes after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to hold off on implementing additional tariffs on each other’s goods. The world’s largest economies have been engaged in a trade spat that has sent ripples through global markets. The skirmish has investors worried that corporate earnings and economic growth could be negatively impacted.
On Wednesday, U.S. equity, option and fixed income markets were closed in honour of former President George H.W. Bush.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were sharply higher, lowering yields to 2.86% from Tuesday’s 2.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices suffered $1.28 to $51.61 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices $5.40 to $1,248.00 U.S. an ounce.
