Stocks in Toronto fell on Wednesday, dragged by financial and industrial stocks after the Bank of Canada left its key overnight interest rate on hold, as expected, at 5.00%, but kept the doors open for further rate hikes.
The TSX took a header of 153.09 points to reach noon hour EDT at 20,260.67.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.12 cents to 73.33 cents U.S.
In company news, Canadian-listed shares of Enbridge $2.63, or 5.5%, to $45.53, after the Canadian pipeline operator said on Tuesday it will buy three utilities from Dominion Energy for $14 billion, including debt.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that in July, Canada's merchandise imports decreased 5.4%, while exports were up 0.7%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from a revised $4.9 billion in June to $987 million in July.
The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5.25% and the deposit rate at 5%. The Bank is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 6.63 points, or 1.1%, to 587.88.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups decreased in strength, as health-care lost 3%, while utilities fell 1.5%, and industrials weakened 1.1%.
Only real-estate held out against the negative tide, ahead 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Wednesday, continuing the sluggish start to September, as concerns mounted that the Federal Reserve may not be done hiking interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrials dumped 198.47 points by lunch time Wednesday at 34,442.50.
The S&P 500 index slid 36.92 points to 4,459.91.
The NASDAQ index reversed 158.87 points, or 1.1%, to 13,862.08.
Pressured by rates, technology stocks underperformed. The biggest laggards included Nvidia and Tesla, falling about 3% each. Apple dropped roughly 3%, weighing on the Dow. Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Amgen also contributed to the losses, falling more than 1% each.
GameStop, American Eagle Outfitters and ChargePoint are among stocks slated to report earnings after the bell.
On the economic front, the prices component of the ISM services index rose 2.1 percentage points to 58.9% in August, representing the share of companies reporting increases as well a four-month high.
That follows the prices component of the ISM manufacturing index jumping 5.8 points to 48.4%. While readings below 50% represent contraction in the ISM survey, the big one-month jump is a reversal from the recent trend. The prices paid component also rose slightly more than expected, further fueling rate hike fears.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were mildly lower, raising yields to 4.29% from Tuesday’s 4.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 78 cents to $86.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $10.60 to $1,942.00U.S. an ounce.
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