Equities in Canada’s largest centre fell on Wednesday, dragged down by energy stocks after oil prices fell on demand concerns and as data showed inflation rose in April.
The TSX headed south 195.14 points, or 1%, to approach noon hour EDT Wednesday at 19,311.91.
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.29 cents to 82.54 cents U.S.
CAE fell $1.56, or 4.3%, to $34.50, after reporting a 77% drop in fourth-quarter profit, as demand for its full-flight simulators and pilot drills remained stressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Wesdome Gold Mines, which jumped $1.47, or 15.1%, to $11.23, after the expansion of its mine in Quebec.
Franco Nevada rose 80 cents to $182.22, after Credit Suisse raised its target price to $145 from $130
First Quantum Minerals fell $1.89, or 6.2%, the most on the TSX, to $28.63. after selling the company sold its Australia nickel mine stake.
The second biggest decliner was Nexgen Energy, down 33 cents, or 5.9%, to $5.27.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said its Consumer Price Index rose 3.4% on a year-over-year basis in April, up from a 2.2% gain in March. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.6% in April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange ditched 12.94 points, or 1.4%, to 935.21.
All but one of the 12 subgroups were lower, energy sputtering 2.6%, health-care sicker by 1.7%, and consumer discretionary stocks off 1.5%.
The lone holdout was in gold, up 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as a plunge in cryptocurrencies led to massive selling in speculative pockets of the market.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 412.18 points, or 1.2%, to 33,648.48,
The S&P 500 moved downward 44.35 points, or 1.1%, to 4,083.48, The S&P 500 fell 1% as all 11 sectors traded in the red.
The NASDAQ slumped 121.38 points to 13,182.26, as Microsoft, Facebook, Alphabet and Apple all traded lower. The sell-off became broad-based as the weakness in tech spilled over into other sectors. The exception was a handful of retailers that reported solid earnings including Target and Walmart.
Sentiment in the tech sector was dented by a drop in cryptocurrencies including bitcoin. The world’s largest digital token plunged 30% at its low of the session to just above $30,000 according to Coin Metrics.
Bitcoin has been cut in half since hitting an all-time high above $64,000 in mid-April. On Tuesday, China warned financial institutions not to conduct crypto-related business, possibly sparking the selloff.
Tesla, a big holder of bitcoin, declined 4%. Microstrategy, another company which bought a large amount of bitcoin for its corporate treasury, tanked by 10%. Coinbase, the newly public crypto exchange, tumbled nearly 10%.
Helping the sentiment a bit on Wednesday was better-than-expected results from Target. Shares of the major retailer popped by 3.8% after it said sales surged 23% last quarter.
The Federal Reserve publishes the minutes from its April meeting later Wednesday afternoon, which could add to angst about inflation. The Fed kept its easy policies that meeting, but acknowledged that inflation could rise in coming months. The central bank maintains that these price pressures will be transitory.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were unchanged, keeping yields at Tuesday’s 1.64%.
Oil prices sank $2.55 to $62.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $17.60 to $1,885.60 U.S. an ounce.
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