Equities in Toronto hit their lowest in five weeks on Thursday, after weakness in crude oil and gold prices prompted energy and material stocks to extend losses.
The TSX tumbled 326.33 points, or 1.7%, to pause for lunch Thursday at 19,004.48
The Canadian dollar fell 0.15 cents to 75.93 cents U.S.
Rio Tinto on Thursday reached an in-principle agreement to buy the rest of Turquoise Hill Resources for $3.3 billion. Turquoise Hill shares galloped $4.99, or 13.8%, to $41.11.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported building permits declined 6.6% in July to $11.2 billion, mainly due to the residential sector, which fell 8.6% to $7.6 billion. The non-residential sector also dropped slightly by 2.1%.
The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.7 from 52.5 in July. This reading missed the market expectation of 53.6 by a wide margin.
Meanwhile, federal Conservatives next month look set to embrace as leader Pierre Poilievre, a career politician who has promised to fire the central bank governor and promoted bitcoin as an inflation hedge.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange plummeted 19.71 points, or 3.1%, to 618.73
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground, as information technology retreated 3.7%, health-care backpedaled 3.1%, and materials fell 2.7%.
Only consumer staples held out against the negative tide, picking up 0.6% by noon hour.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell Thursday, the first day of September, as traders continued to fret over the potential for higher Federal Reserve rates.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off their lows of the morning, remained behind breakeven, however, by 134.53 points to reach noon hour at 31,375.90.
The S&P 500 dumped 39.82 points, or 1%, to 3,915.18.
The NASDAQ Composite slouched 249.38 points, or 2.1%, to 11,566.82.
All of the major averages are on track to finish the week lower. The Dow is set to post a nearly 3% decline, while the S&P floundered 3.5% and NASDAQ was on pace to end down about 4.5%.
The Dow closed August down about 4.1%, while the S&P slipped 4.2%, and NASDAQ recorded a loss of 4.6%.
Nvidia shares also contributed to the losses, falling more than 8% after the chipmaker said the U.S. government is restricting some sales in China.
Weekly U.S. jobless claims fell to 232,000 for the week ending Aug. 27. That was weaker than economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected. It was also a decline from the previous period and the lowest level since June 25.
Treasury prices sagged, raising yields to 3.26% from Wednesday’s 3.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite direction.
Oil prices stumbled $2.74 to $86.81 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices decreased $21.00 to $1,705.20 U.S. an ounce.
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