Equities in Toronto struggled most of Wednesday before finishing slightly in the red, weighed mostly by health-care and tech concerns.
The S&P/TSX flirted with plus territory by the closing bell but concluded downward 15.62 points to 20,713.72.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.09 cents to 79.03 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks hurt the worst, as Aurora Cannabis docked 15 cents, or 7%, to $1.98, while Canopy Growth dipped 38 cents, or 6%, to $5.95.
Among tech issues, HUT 8 Mining lost 33 cents, or 10.1%, to $2.94, while Dye & Durham surrendered $!.48, or 6.4%, to $21.79.
In consumer staples, Loblaw lost $3.16, or 2.7%, to $113.53, while NorthWest Company fell 94 cents, or 2.6%, to $35.36.
Energy stocks were their usual robust selves, primarily Vermilion, up $1.45, or 5.3%, to $28.81, while Cenovus Energy galloped 81 cents or 2.8%, to $30.13.
Industrials celebrated as well, with CAE Inc. flying $2.60, or 8.2%, to $34.19, while WSP Global launched $7.34 higher, or 5.3%, to $146.96.
On the economic calendar, the Markit Purchasing Managers Index for May registered 56.8 in May, up from 56.2 in April.
The central bank this morning increased its target for the overnight rate to 1.5%, with the Bank Rate at 1.75% and the deposit rate at 1.5%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 15 points, or 2.1%, to 705.98.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups lost on the day, as health-care swooned 3.4%, information technology lost 1.8%, and consumer staples faded 1%.
The three gainers proved to be energy, up 1.9%, industrials, progressing 1.2%, and gold, better by 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks pulled back in choppy trading Wednesday amid worries about the health of the economy, as Wall Street turned the page to another month following a volatile May.
The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 176.89 points to close at 32,813.23.
The S&P 500 dropped 30.92 points to 4,101.23
The NASDAQ Composite lost 86.93 points to 11,994.46.
Financial stocks comprised the worst-performing S&P 500 sector Wednesday. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase each pulled back more than 1%.
Materials names typically linked to the economic cycle were among the biggest laggards on the S&P 500. Albemarle dropped 7.8% and Mosaic shed 6.1%.
Travel names also struggled Wednesday. Norwegian Cruise Line and United Airlines each dropped about 4.5%.
On the upside, Salesforce surged 9.9% after the company’s first-quarter results topped expectations.
Weighing on investor sentiment, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday said the economy is headed for a “hurricane.”
“You better brace yourself,” Dimon said at a financial conference. “JPMorgan is bracing ourselves and we’re going to be very conservative with our balance sheet.”
Traders in May pored over a raft of mixed quarterly results that included some big misses from bellwether names like Walmart.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve at the start of May hiked rates by 50 basis points to quell an inflationary surge not seen in decades.
The first day of June marks the start of the Fed’s plan to reduce its balance sheet, which ballooned to nearly $9 trillion during the COVID pandemic.
Concerns over tighter monetary policy gained even more steam Wednesday, after the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing PMI came in at 56.1 for May, up from 55.4 the previous month. Meanwhile, job openings fell sharply for April, but remained high relative to historical levels.
Treasury prices crumbled, raising yields to 2.92% from Tuesday’s 2.86%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices forged higher 18 cents to $114.85 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $2.60 to $1,851 U.S. an ounce.
