Canada's resource-heavy main stock index fell on Wednesday as weakness in oil and metal prices weighed on commodity stocks amid growing worries of a global recession.
The S&P/TSX withered 273.37 points, or 1.5%, by Wednesday’s noon hour EDT to 18,560.79.
The Canadian dollar slumbered 0.20 cents to 76.53 cents U.S.
Energy stocks again took the brunt of the selling, with Athabasca Oil down 26 cents, or 11.5%, to two dollars, while Baytex Energy lost 54 cents, or 9.2%, to $5.32.
Other resources felt the pain as well; K92 Mining was bruised 48 cents, or 6.4%, to $7.04, while Silvercrest Metals forfeited 60 cents, or 7.7%, to $7.20.
Torex Gold slumped 46 cents, or 4.9%, to $8.88, while Wesdome Gold handed over 52 cents, or 4.8%, to $10.39.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tumbled 17.41 points, or 2.8%, to 598.53.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, with energy sliding 5.9%, materials skidding 2.8%, and gold falling 2.6%.
Only industrials kept things from being unanimous, eking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell slightly on Wednesday as the market struggled to hold onto its gains from a late rally in the prior session.
The Dow Jones Industrials slipped 134.85 points to 30,832.97.
The S&P 500 fell 17.34 points to 3,814.05.
The NASDAQ Composite faded 43 points to 11,279.24.
Energy stocks were some of the worst performers, as oil prices continued their recent slide. Shares of Chevron and Exxon each fell about 4%.
Investors appeared to be drifting back into defensive stocks on Wednesday. The top performers in the Dow included Procter & Gamble and Walmart, with gains of about 1% each.
The Institute for Supply Management services PMI data came in better than expected, but did show a slight slowdown in growth. Job openings also came in higher than expected, at more than 11 million.
There are no major earnings reports scheduled for Wednesday, but the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June meeting are due for the afternoon.
Treasury prices dropped, bringing yields up to 2.90% from Tuesday’s 2.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $3.28 to $96.22 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $32.80 to $1,731.10 U.S. an ounce.
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