Equities in Toronto joined their American brethren in declining first thing Thursday morning, as prices for Brent Crude crested to levels not seen in months.
The TSX crumbled 274.72 points to open Thursday at 35,210.39.
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.02 cents to 71.02 cents U.S.
In company news, Mullen Group and Teck Resources beat second-quarter profit estimates.
Mullen stock opened higher 63 cents, or 2.5%, to $26.23, while those for Teck sprinted $3.65, or 4.5%, to $84.31.
Companies including A&W Food Services of Canada, First Service Corp and Winpak are set to report their quarterly earnings later in the day.
A&W shares dropped a dime to $36.19, while First Service blundered $21.35, or 10.7%, to $178.07.
Separately, Panama is considering creating a state-owned mining firm to partner with First Quantum on the re-opening of the shuttered flagship Cobre Panama copper mine. First Quantum shares dwindled 39 cents, or 1%, to $38.81.
On the macroeconomic page, retail trade increased 1.0% to $73.7 billion in May. Statistics Canada also reports sales were up in all nine subsectors, led by increases at gasoline stations and fuel vendors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 13.15 points, or 1.5%, to 868.20.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative in the first hour, weighed most by real-estate, down 2.4%, gold, declining 2.3%, and consumer discretionary, off 2%.
The three gainers turned out to be energy, zooming 2.3%, industrials, ahead 0.5%, and utilities, squeezing 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Thursday, as oil prices surged amid escalating conflict in the Middle East, while investors weighed quarterly results from two of the largest companies in the world.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 547.67 points to 51,670.91.
The S&P 500 gave back 82.45 points, or 1.1%, to 7,417,24
The NASDAQ Composite plunged 509.98 points to 25,180.92.
Equities were also weighed down by a 7% slide in Alphabet shares after the Google parent lifted its forecast for 2026 capital expenditures to as high as $205 billion, pointing to strong artificial intelligence demand.
The increase comes as investors have grown more cautious in recent months about hyperscalers’ spending around the AI effort.
Tesla also dropped more than 13% after the electric vehicle maker posted a big earnings miss for the second quarter. The company’s operating expenses also rose faster than revenue during the period.
Oil prices put more pressure on stocks, as they soared after Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi militant group claimed attacks on two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea, fueling concerns about an expansion of the conflict in the Middle East.
Prices also moved higher after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iranian infrastructure.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 4.71% from Wednesday’s 4.66%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices popped $4.45 to $91.28 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gave back $101.20 to $4,050.70 U.S. an ounce.
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