Canada's main stock index opened lower on Thursday, after four sessions of gains, as technology stocks fell due to weak sentiment after Facebook-owner Meta Platforms' downbeat forecast.
The S&P/TSX Composite began Thursday sharply down, 201.29 points, to 21,161.07.
The Canadian dollar inched ahead 0.10 cents at 78.92 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy said it swung to a quarterly profit from a year-ago loss, but its earnings missed expectations. Shares in Suncor dropped $1.23, or 3.2%, to $37.22.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on ATS Automation Tooling Systems to $66.00 from $64.00. ATS shares dived $2.02, or 4%, to $49.18.
CIBC raised the target price on CGI to $135.00 from $130.00. CGI shares dropped $3.12, or 2.8%, to $109.18.
CIBC initiated coverage on Magnet Forensics with an outperform rating, and a target price of $33.00. Magnet shares let go of 60 cents, or 2.4%, to $24.76.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Wednesday there was uncertainty about how quickly inflation would come back down into the central bank's comfort zone, due to the unique nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange forfeited 12.5 points to 852.55.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups plunged into the red in the first hour, with information technology sliding 4.2%, health-care down 1.7%, and gold, off 1.6%.
Only communications held out against the negative tide, gaining 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as investors’ renewed optimism on big tech names, driven by a slew of strong earnings, took a turn down after Facebook parent Meta Platforms reported disappointing quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrials swooned 306.96 points to start out Thursday’s session at 35,322.37
The S&P 500 dropped 60.89 points, or 1.4%, to 4,528.49.
The NASDAQ cratered 288.19 points, or 2%, to 14,129.36.
Meta Platforms shares plunged more than 25% after the company’s quarterly profit fell short of expectations. The company also issued weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for the current quarter. It was the biggest drop ever for the Facebook-parent.
Thursday’s decline comes after the major averages notched a four-day win streak during the regular session Wednesday, led by Google parent Alphabet. Investors bought the dip in tech stocks after shedding their positions throughout January as they braced for potential rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
Strong earnings from Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet drove investors back into tech, reminding them that fundamentals are still strong, but Meta Platforms’ weak guidance has caused some to reverse course.
Other social media names, including Snap and Twitter, followed Facebook shares lower on Thursday. Snap shares slid 18%, and Twitter dropped about 6%.
Spotify Technology, meanwhile, fell 12% after the company’s latest quarterly figures showed a slowdown in premium subscriber growth. Amazon, which will report after the closing bell, fell 4%.
Outside of tech, Dow component Honeywell’s shares fell 4.8% after the company beat narrowly on profit but fell short on revenue and provided lower-than-expected guidance.
On the economic data front, U.S. jobless claims came in at 238,000 for the week ending Jan. 29, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect initial claims to have fallen to 245,000 from 260,000 the week before.
Those numbers followed the release of ADP’s surprisingly downbeat private payrolls data Wednesday. Investors are still looking forward to Friday’s release of nonfarm payrolls data. Consensus estimates see a gain of 150,000 jobs, according to Dow Jones, but Wall Street
forecasters say the actual tally will be far lower, with one estimating a loss of 400,000 jobs in January.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys sagged, raising yields to 1.83% from Wednesday’s 1.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices flopped 72 cents to $87.54 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subtracted $18.00 to $1,792.30 U.S. an ounce.
