Equities in Toronto fell on Wednesday, with mining and rate-sensitive stocks leading the declines, while investors assessed domestic retail sales data and U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's prepared comments.
The TSX remained negative 71.18 points to move into noon hour EDT Wednesday at 19,682.96.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.25 cents to 75.85 cents U.S.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported retail sales increased 1.1% to $65.9 billion in April. Sales increased in eight of nine subsectors and were led by increases at general merchandise retailers and food and beverage retailers.
The agency’s new housing price increased 0.1% month over month in May, its first increase since August 2022.
The Bank of Canada will also detail its minutes from its latest policy meeting where it surprised markets globally by hiking interest rates for the first time since January. The minutes are due at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Spartan Delta Corp slumped $9.61, or 64.1% to the bottom of the benchmark TSX, touching its lowest level since December 2021 at $5.38. BMO slashed its target price on energy firm’s stock.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups had lost ground by noon hour, with real-estate down 1.4%, while health-care and gold each skidded 1%.
The two gainers proved to be energy, sprinting 1.5%, and industrials, eking ahead 0.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 2.86 points to 609.89.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was lower Wednesday as investors took a breather from last week’s market rally, and weighed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s latest comments on inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrials found their way upward 14.44 points to pause for lunch Wednesday at 34,068.48.
The S&P 500 sank 16.39 points to 4,372.32.
The NASDAQ index capsized 156.53 points, or 1.2%, to 13,510.76.
Some major tech stocks that enjoyed an extraordinary run because of enthusiasm around artificial intelligence pulled back. Amazon shares dropped 1% after the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday sued the online retailer. The agency said Amazon fooled millions of shoppers into signing up for Prime, and then hindered their attempts to cancel. Meanwhile, Nvidia, which is up nearly 200% this year, slid more than 3%.
Shares of Google-parent Alphabet and Netflix are each down by more than 2%, while Apple is lower by 1%.
Elsewhere, FedEx shares fell 2.4% after the shipping giant posted weaker-than-expected revenue for its most recent quarter. Winnebago shares slid more than 5% after the motorhome maker missed third-quarter revenue estimates.
Powell said Wednesday that more rate hikes are likely ahead as the central bank tries to combat inflation. Those comments come after the conclusion of last week’s meeting when the central bank held off from raising rates after 10 straight consecutive hikes. However, officials indicated there could be two more quarter-percentage point moves on the horizon this year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 3.78% from Tuesday’s 3.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.46 to $72.65 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $5.60 to $1,942.10 U.S. an ounce.
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