Equities in Canada’s busiest market fell on Wednesday after the country's most valuable company Shopify Inc hinted revenue growth would slow this year.
The S&P/TSX Composite tumbled 163.31 points to kick off Wednesday at 18,329.41.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.11 cents to 78.56 cents U.S.
Shopify dumped $131.47, or 7.1%, to $1,724,56, after reporting that its holiday-quarter revenue nearly doubled and beat Wall Street estimates as more businesses flocked to its e-commerce tools to sell online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Canada must justify its planned $100-billion post-pandemic stimulus plan before committing to significant new spending and should commit to a clear fiscal anchor, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said the consumer price index rose 1.0% on a year-over-year basis in January, up from a 0.7% increase in December.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.4% in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 1.3 points to 1,086.83.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour Wednesday, as information technology dived 2.9%, gold waned 2.2%, and materials dropped 1.7%.
The three gainers were financials, eking up 0.1%, utilities, ahead 0.04%, and energy, inching up 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung in volatile trading on Wednesday as investors weighed improving economic data with rising inflation expectations.
The 30-stock index dropped 48.13 points to open Wednesday at 31,474.62, propped up by a jump in Verizon and Chevron shares.
The S&P 500 forfeited 21 points to 3,911.59, weighed by technology and materials.
The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 158.13 points, or 1.1%, to 13,988.37.
Dow-member Verizon was among the biggest gainers after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed a sizable stake in the telecom giant. The shares climbed 3.7% after the latest filing showed Berkshire bought more than $8 billion worth of the stock in the fourth quarter, making Verizon one of the conglomerate’s top six largest holdings.
Chevron jumped 3.5% as Berkshire revealed a large stake in the energy company as well last quarter.
The weakness in the broader market came as data showed retail sales surged 5.3% in January, blowing past a Dow Jones estimate of a 1.2% rise. The jump in consumer spending could further fuel inflation expectations, which have already pushed bond yields significantly higher recently.
Signs of a pickup in pricing pressures already emerged as the economy rebounds from the pandemic-induced recession with historic fiscal and monetary stimulus. The U.S. Labor Department said Wednesday the producer price index, a measure of the prices businesses receive for their goods and services, rose 1.3% in January, the biggest jump since the index began in December 2009.
Elsewhere in the market, bitcoin topped $51,000 U.S. for the first time as its dizzying surge to new record highs continued.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys regained strength, lowering yields to 1.28% from Tuesday’s 1.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 25 cents to $60.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $19.70 to $1,797.30
