Stocks in Canada’s largest centre continued to bleed red ink on Wednesday, amid weakness in the energy sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite subtracted 64.14 points to close Wednesday at 21,653.02.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.25 cents at 79.32 cents U.S.
Energy stocks took the hardest blows Wednesday, with PrairieSky Royalty dwindling 47 cents, or 3%, to $15.30, while rival Vermilion Energy dumped 33 cents, or 2.6%, to $12.30.
In the consumer staples arena, Metro subsided $1.64, or 2.5%, to $64.58, while Village Farms International lost 45 cents, or 4.1%, to $10.46.
Industrials also got bludgeoned, with Ballard Power Systems socked $1.44, or 6.4%, to $20.99, while Bombardier ditched six cents, or 3.3%, to $1.78.
Golds and materials tried to lift spirits, with B2Gold picking up 18 cents, or 3.2%. to $5.75, while Equinox Gold hiked 33 cents, or 3.2%, to $10.68.
Fortuna Silver Mines added 22 cents, or 4.5%, to $5.10, while Osisko Mining gained 21 cents, or 6.8%, to end the day at $3.31.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada’s consumer price index rose 4.7% on a year-over-year basis in October, up from a 4.4% increase in September. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.5% last month.
Floods and landslides that have killed at least one person have also reportedly cut all rail access to Vancouver.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange doffed 3.09 points to 1,005.66
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, with health-care plunging 3%, while consumer staples dropped 0.9%, and industrials weakened 0.8%
The three gainers were gold, up 1.2%, and materials, surging 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks took a dip on Wednesday as investors weighed a continuation of strong earnings reports from big-box retailers against lingering inflation concerns.
The Dow Jones Industrials hurtled earthward 211.37 points to 35,931.05 by the closing bell. The Dow was dragged down by a sharp drop in Visa.
The S&P 500 docked 12.23 points to 4,688.67.
The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 52.28 points to 15,921.57.
The S&P 500 and NASDAQ are still higher for the week, however, while the Dow is lagging.
Retail giant Target posted beats on the top and bottom lines, but its CEO noted rising costs may have an impact on the company going forward as it plans to absorb those costs rather than pass them onto the customer. Shares slid about 4.7%.
Home improvement giant Lowe’s saw shares rise 1.2%, however, after the company not only topped estimates from the Street but also raised its full-year sales forecast.
And shares of TJX jumped 5.8% after the apparel and home retailer reported a quarterly earnings beat on the top and bottom lines as well as a same-store sales increase of 14% year-over-year.
Elsewhere, Tesla climbed nearly 3.2% as the stock continued its rebound from a 15.4% loss last week, when CEO Elon Musk began his Tesla stock selloff.
Microsoft saw its shares climb slightly to hit a new intraday record as investors rotated out of value stocks — financials were largely in the red and energy stocks were among the biggest laggards in the S&P — and bet on Big Tech going into the end of the year. Amazon ticked up also and Apple rose 1.6%.
VISA shares slumped 4.7% after Amazon said it will stop accepting payments made with Visa credit cards issued in the U.K. starting next year. That change came shortly after Visa raised its interchange fees for transactions between the U.K. and European Union. Mastercard, which has also increased its U.K.-E.U. interchange fees, fell 2.8% with Visa.
Shares of chipmaker Nvidia are 3.1% lower ahead of its earnings report after the bell.
Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret and Cisco Systems are also on deck.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys climbed, lowering yields to 1.59% from Tuesday’s 1.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices declined $2.25 to $78.51 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $14.30 to $1,868.40 U.S. an ounce.
