Equities in Toronto tailed off toward the final bell on Thursday, weighed largely by weakness in gold and tech plays.
The S&P/TSX Composite dipped into the red 72.47 points to adjourn Thursday at 21,531.72
The Canadian dollar swooned 0.3 cents at 78.58 cents U.S.
Gold weighed most heavily on losing groups, as Alamos Gold sank 34 cents, or 3.8%, to $8.55, while Novagold dipped 27 cents, or 3.2%, to $8.08.
In techs, Tecsys chopped $1.94, or 4.8%, from its price, to close at $38.20, while Kinaxis ducked $6.77, or 4.1%, to $160.05.
Among consumer discretionary stocks, Canada Goose took it on the chin $6.97, or a resounding 16%, to $36.48, while Dollarama lost $1.65, or 2.4%, to $66.60.
Energy led the two subgroups upward, as Whitecap Resources took on 16 cents, or 1.9%, to $9.18, while Vermilion Energy added 22 cents, or 1.1%, to $20.56.
Financials enjoyed marginal gains, as Manulife soared 99 cents, or 3.7%, to $27.89, while Brookfield Asset Management hiked $4.25, or 5.9%, to $76.26.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 2.12 points to 872.88.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative by the close, as gold lost 3% of lustre, information technology clicked lower 1.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks ditched 1.6%.
The two gainers proved to be energy, improving 0.6%, and financials, rising but 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks churned lower on Thursday after a key inflation report showed a faster-than-expected rise in prices and boosted the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield above a key level.
The Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 526.47 points, or 1.5%, to conclude Thursday to at 35,241,59.
The S&P 500 fell 83.1 points, or 1.8%, to 4,504.08
The NASDAQ plunged 304.73 points, or 2.1%, to 14,185.64.
Stocks were volatile throughout the day, with all three major averages briefly turning positive at one point.
Thursday’s consumer price index report showed a year-over-year rise of 7.5%, hotter than expected and the largest gain since 1982.
Stocks took another leg lower in early afternoon trading after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told Bloomberg News that he was open to a 50-basis point hike in March and wanted to see a full percentage point of hikes, or 100 basis points, by July.
Big Tech stocks were under pressure with Microsoft falling 3%. E-commerce stock Shopify also fell 2.6%, while Adobe dropped nearly 5%. Higher interest rates tend to put pressure on tech and other growth stocks as they make future earnings less attractive to investors.
Shares of Dow 30 component Disney jumped 3% after the company reported a quarterly earnings beat and a doubling of revenue from its parks, experiences and consumer products division.
Coca-Cola shares were up 0.5% after the soft drink giant reported earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates. Cloud stock Twilio rose 3.5% after its quarterly report.
Expedia and Zillow will report earnings after the closing bell. Shares of Affirm sank 20% after the company accidentally released results early.
In other economic news, weekly jobless claims came in at 223,000, slightly below expectations.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys toppled, raising yields to 2.05% from Wednesday’s 1.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 34 cents to $90.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices reversed course and stumbled $8.80 to $1,827.80 U.S. an ounce.
