Stocks in Canada’s largest centre remained in the red by midday Friday, weighed by escalating tensions between the United States and China and fears of mounting coronavirus cases across the world.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index came off its lows of the morning, but was still negative 54.56 points to greet noon EDT at 15,964.09.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.11 cents at 74.50 cents U.S.
Beijing ordered Washington to close its consulate in Chengdu, in retaliation for being told to shut its consulate in Houston earlier this week.
Shopify recovered from early morning negative readings to gain $9.07 to $1,253.51.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Mullen Group, which jumped 38 cents, or 4.4%, to $ 9.07, after multiple brokerages turned hiked their price target on the freight transportation provider after it reported results on Thursday.
Its gains were followed by Winpak, which rose $2.22, or 4.9%, to $47.24, after two brokerages raised their price target on the stock after the packaging materials manufacturer reported quarterly profit that topped estimates.
Ballard Power Systems fell $1.04, or 4.7%, the most on the TSX, to $20.91, and the second biggest decliner was First Quantum Minerals down 31 cents, or 2.5%, to $11.88.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 5.5 points to 605.70.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower by lunch hour, with financial dawdling 1.4%, while health-care and utilities each doffed 1.1%.
The three gainers were gold, up 2.5%, materials, better by 1.6%, and energy, 0.4% to the good.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Friday, adding to a sharp decline from the previous session, as tensions between the U.S. and China keep rising and tech shares struggled once again.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 132.87 points, to 26,519.46
The S&P 500 shed 16.75 points to 3,218.91.
The NASDAQ lost 80.14 points to 10,381.28.
The Dow was down 0.1% for the week, and the NASDAQ entered Friday’s session down 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.3% in that time.
At this rate, the Dow would snap a three-week winning streak and and the NASDAQ would log in its first back-to-back weekly declines since May.
China ordered the closure of a U.S. consulate in Chengdu, retaliating after Washington shut the Chinese consulate in Houston earlier this week. China markets plunged in response, with the Shanghai Composite dropping 3.9% overnight.
Shares of Big Tech also dampened market sentiment, with Amazon, Apple and Microsoft each down more than 1%. Intel shares plunged more than 17% after the chipmaker offered disappointing guidance for the third quarter. Tesla dropped more than 8%. Those losses come after tech posted sharp losses in the previous session, dragging down the broader market.
Big Tech has been the market leader this year as investors grapple with the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on corporate profits. Amazon and Netflix were both up more than 47% year to date. Alphabet and Facebook are up over 13% over that time.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Thursday’s 0.58%.
Oil prices lost 14 cents to $40.93 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $7.10 to $1,897.10 U.S. an ounce.
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