Fears of a worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus had markets the world over scrambling, in many cases, retreating into safer investment vehicles. The result was a mass selloff in equity markets, including those in Toronto.
The TSX Composite Index tanked 172.07 points to close the day, week and month at 17,318.49. The index sustained a weekly loss of more than 246 points, or 1.4%.
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.12 cents to 75.55 cents U.S.
In a turn of events which should surprise no one, health-care stocks took the biggest hit on Toronto bourses, with Canopy Growth shrinking $1.22, or 4%, to $29.58, while Cronos Group skidded 28 cents, or 2.9%, to $9.51.
Consumer discretionary issues also looked south, as Canada Goose shed $2.48, or 5.9%, to $39.53, while Gildan Activewear let go of $1.44, or 3.8%, to $36.67.
Financials were also shaky, with Manulife trailing Thursday’s close by 81 cents, or 3.1%, to $25.67, with Home Capital Group losing 76 cents, or 2.4%, to $31.56.
Gold and other resource stocks tried to do their bit, with Centerra Gold climbing 60 cents, or 6%, to $10.57, while Alacer Gold shone brighter by 27 cents, or 4.6%, to $6.17.
In materials, Pan American Silver hiked 51 cents, or 1.7%, to $30.32, while Silvercorp Metals surged 13 cents, or 1.9%, to $6.86.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada’s industrial product price edged up 0.1% in December, driven primarily by higher prices for primary non-ferrous metal products.
The agency’s raw materials price index hiked 2.8%, mainly due to higher prices for crude energy products.
Moreover, November’s Gross Domestic Product edged up 0.1% in November, offsetting most of the decline in October.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave up much of its earlier Friday gains and eked up only 0.02 points, to 575.18, a loss on the week of 6.5 points, or 1.1%.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups slid, with health-care surrendering 2.8%, consumer discretionary stocks folding 2.1%, and financials poorer by 1.4%,
The two stalwarts proved to be gold, up 0.7%, and materials, ahead 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Friday, wiping out the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s gain for January, as investors grew increasingly worried about the potential economic impact of China’s fast-spreading coronavirus.
The 30-stock index dumped 603.41 points, or 2.1%, to end Friday at 28,446.57, its worst day since August.
The S&P 500 fell 58.14 points, or 1.8%, at 3,225.52
The NASDAQ plummeted 148 points, or 1.6%, to 9,150.94.
On Friday, the U.S. declared the coronavirus a public health emergency within the country. Delta and American suspended all flights between China and the U.S. United Airlines announced similar measures later in the day.
The major averages slid even as Amazon surged 8.5% to a $1-trillion market value, joining an elite club shared only by Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet.
The major averages saw an uptick in volatility this month as investors grappled with rising tensions between Iran and the U.S., trade worries with China and the recent coronavirus scare.
The S&P 500 closed marginally lower for January, snapping a four-month winning streak. The Dow also had its first monthly loss since August. The NASDAQ posted a 2% gain in January, its fifth-straight monthly advance.
Las Vegas Sands, a proxy stock for the coronavirus given the company’s exposure to the Chinese market, fell more than 1%. Airline stocks such as American and United dropped more than 3% each while Delta slid 2.4%. Travel stocks also got hit as the Trump administration imposed tighter travel restrictions to China.
In corporate news, Caterpillar shares fell 3% after the industrial giant’s CEO warned about “global economic uncertainty” in the company’s latest quarterly earnings report. Caterpillar also issued disappointing earnings guidance for 2020. Those losses were mitigated, however, by a 7.4% surge in Amazon shares.
Amazon posted a quarterly profit and revenue that easily beat analyst expectations. Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud business, saw stronger-than-expected revenues.
Investors are nearly halfway through the corporate earnings season. More than 70% of the 226 S&P 500 companies that have reported have beaten analyst earnings expectations.
China’s National Health Commission confirmed on Friday that there have been 9,692 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 213 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the deadly pneumonia-like virus as a global health emergency on Thursday, citing concern that the outbreak continues to spread to other countries with weaker health systems. WHO’s designation was made to help the United Nations health agency mobilize financial and political support to contain the outbreak.
The virus, which was first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has now spread to at least 18 other countries and has dampened sentiment over global economic growth.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury rose sharply, driving yields down to 1.51% to from Thursday’s 1.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices ditched 54 cents to $51.60 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $1.70 to $1,590.90 U.S. an ounce.
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