Stocks in Toronto reared back from their lofty heights of earlier in the week, as weakness in energy and health-care weighed heavily on the market.
The TSX tumbled 146.63 points to finish Thursday at 18,936.47
The Canadian dollar swooned 0.75 cents to 79.97 cents U.S.
Energy standby Vermilion lost 99 cents, or 9.1%, to $9.91, while rival Crescent Point Energy plummeted 47 cents, or 8.4%, to $5.14.
Among health-care concerns, Aphria slid $1.61, or 6.3%, to $24.00, while Aurora Cannabis lost 66 cents, or 5%, to $12.49.
In the information technology sector, BlackBerry dipped 87 cents, or 6.1%, to $13.47, while Lightspeed POS fell $5.52, or 6.5%, to $79.58.
In the industrial sector, Canadian Pacific tried to balance things out by moving ahead $7.49, or 1.6%, to $481.07, while TFI International gained $2.64, or 2.9%, to $94.58.
In gold, Sandstorm Gold nudged ahead three cents to $8.94.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said new home prices rose last month at their fastest pace since February 1989. New house prices were up in 22 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed during February, pushing the national index up 1.9% in February.
Moreover, a study by payroll firm ADP revealed Canada lost 100,800 jobs in February, driven by a decline in hiring in the leisure and hospitality as well as the trade and construction sectors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 17.54 points, or 1.8%, to 980.
All but two the 12 TSX subgroups nose-dived by the close, with energy down 5.4%, health-care waning 1.9%, and information technology was off 1.9%.
The two gainers were industrial and gold stocks, each falling 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Technology shares led the U.S. stock market lower on Thursday as a spike in bond yields fueled concern about equity valuations and prompted investors to sell growth-focused high flyers.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded from Wednesday’s all-time high, losing 153.07 points to adjourn at 32,862.30, amid a rally in bank stocks.
The S&P lost 58.66 points, or 1.5%, to 3,915.46.
The NASDAQ Composite plunged 165.56 points, or 1.2%, to 13,116.17, or its worst day since Feb. 25 as Apple, Amazon and Netflix all fell more than 3%. Tesla slipped nearly 7%.
Bank stocks outperformed as higher interest rates tend to improve their profit margins. Banks can earn more from the widening gap between the rate they borrow at in the short term and the rate they lend out at in the long term. U.S. Bancorp hiked 3.3%, and Wells Fargo popped 2.4%. JPMorgan jumped 1.7%, while Bank of America gained 2.6%.
Investors digested a mixed bag of economic data Thursday. Weekly initial jobless claims totaled 770,000 for the week ended March 13, worse than an estimate of 700,000, according to economist polled by Dow Jones.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s manufacturing index showed a reading of 51.8, well exceeding Dow Jones consensus of 22.0 and hitting the highest level for the gauge since 1973.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys plunged, raising yields to 1.71% from Wednesday’s 1.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $5.30 to $59.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on seven dollars to $1,734.10.
