Stocks throughout North America fell victim Friday to the general malaise over the direction in which interest rates are traveling, combined with fears said interest rates will lead to a recession.
The TSX Composite tumbled 157.35 points to end Friday at 19,443.28, and post a loss for the week of more than 503 points, or 2.53%.
The Canadian dollar withered 0.19 cents at 73.03 cents U.S.
Health-care sustained the worst blows, with Bausch Health Companies falling 96 cents, or 9%, to $9.59, while Chartwell Retirement Residences let go of 23 cents, or 2.8%, to $7.99.
Energy stocks took it on the chin, with Spartan Delta sliding 81 cents, or 5.3%, to $14.52, while Advantage Oil backslid 79 cents, or 7.3%, to $9.98.
In utilities, Transalta Renewables faltered 69 cents, or 5.8%, to $11.22, while Algonquin Power & Utilities stumbled 50 cents, or 5%, to $9.42.
Gold tried to right the ship, with Eldorado Gold surging 55 cents, or 5%, to $11.50, while NovaGold acquired 25 cents, or 3.3%, to $7.95.
In materials, ERO Copper jumped $1.26, or 6.8%, to $19.72, while Filo Mining gained $1.20, or 5.4%, to $23.38.
Consumer staples performed well, as Jamieson Wellness collected 35 cents, or 1%, to $35.38, while Premium Brands climbed 67 cents to $84.17.
In matters macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported that October wholesale trade rose 2.1% to $83.4 billion in October. The agency went on to say the largest increases were in the miscellaneous goods, the building material and supplies, and the personal and household goods subsectors.
Foreign investors acquired $8.5 billion of Canadian securities in October, following a significant divestment of $22.5 billion in September. Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $1.7 billion, after buying $10.4 billion in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange strengthened 5.47 points, or 1%, to 576.26, for a loss on the week of 1.4 points, or 0.24%.
Eight of the 12 subgroups lost ground, with health-care giving back 3.3%, energy plummeting 2.5%, and utilities dawdling 1.7%.
The four gainers were led by gold, up 1.4%, materials, ahead 0.8%, and consumer staples, doggedly gaining 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks dropped Friday as investors continued to sell into year-end on fears a recession is ahead next year because of the Federal Reserve’s unrelenting rate hiking.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost 281.76 points to close the week at 32,920.46
The S&P 500 dipped 43.39 points, or 1.1%, to 3,852.36.
The selloff was broad-based, with just 10 names in the S&P 500 trading in positive territory. Real estate was down 3% and consumer discretionary plunged nearly 1.7%.
The NASDAQ Composite Index retreated 105.11 points, or 1%, to 10,705.41.
The indexes notched a second consecutive week of losses. The S&P 500 is off 2.1% for the week, and 5.6% for the month of December, as hopes for a year-end rally fizzle.
Meanwhile, shares of Adobe outperformed, up nearly 3%, after the design software firm posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and guidance that topped expectations. Shares of Meta rose 2.8% after JPMorgan upgraded shares of the social media company to overweight from neutral.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury tumbled, raising yields to 3.49% from Thursday’s 3.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked $1.81 to $74.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices restored $14.80 to $1,802.60 U.S. an ounce.
