Canada's main stock index tumbled on Tuesday as shares of miners and energy firms were pulled lower by concerns around demand from China, while hawkish remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve chief further strained sentiment.
The TSX had fallen off 166.32 points by noon EST Tuesday at 20,348.48
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.61 cents to 72.82 cents U.S.
The tech sector was dragged by a 71-cent or 13%, drop in BlackBerry to $after the software firm's lower-than-expected annual sales forecast.
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers said it would pay a special dividend of $1.08 per share to its investors if they back its $7-billion deal for U.S. auto retailer IAA Inc. However, the asset management firm fell 28 cents to $82.61.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faltered 6.99 points, or 1.1%, to 630.77.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower midday, weighed most by gold, sinking 2.6%, materials, down 2.3%, and financials, off 1%.
The lone gainer was in industrials, inching up but 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks sold off sharply Tuesday after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested that rates may need to go higher for longer, fueling fears of a potentially larger rate hike at the central bank’s next policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials capsized 382.66 points, or 1.1%, to enter afternoon trading at 33,048.78.
The S&P 500 fell 43.5 points, or 1.1%, to 4,004.92.
The NASDAQ Composite sank 89.2 points to 11,586.54.
The comments seemed to suggest that the Fed may implement a larger rate hike than last month’s 25-basis-point increase at its next policy meeting on March 21-22. At the same time, it could mean the federal funds, or terminal rate, will likely go higher than previously expected, despite investor hopes that the Fed will stop hiking soon.
In other news, Dick’s Sporting Goods shares popped more than 7% on a strong holiday quarter. WW International leapt more than 30% on plans to acquire Sequence, a subscription telehealth platform with a focus on chronic weight management.
Investor attention remains laser-focused on February’s jobs report slated for Friday, after January’s blockbuster number showed a resilient labour market despite the Fed’s aggressive hiking.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell slightly raising yields to 4% from Monday’s 3.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subsided $2.39 to $78.07 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stumbled $29.50 to $1,825.10 U.S. an ounce.
