Stocks in Toronto backed off considerably from the high values they’d known over the past couple of days, as weakness in health-care stocks overshadowed progress in utility and communications issues.
The TSX stumbled 116.21 points, to close Wednesday at 20,159.55.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.14 cents to 74.28 cents U.S.
Health-care plays stumbled as Bellus Health retreated 65 cents, or 7%, to $8.68, while Canopy Growth was clobbered 10 cents, or 4.4%, to $2.17.
In tech stocks, Hut 8 Mining dissolved 14 cents, or 5.9%, to $2.24, while Coveo Solutions fell 42 cents, or 5.4%, to $7.38.
In the industrial sector, Ballard Power Systems faltered 40 cents, or 5.6%, to $6.69, while Brookfield Business Partners surrendered $1.15, or 4.7%, to $23.29.
In utilities, Fortis moved forward $1.57, or 2.7%, to $59.19, while ATCO Ltd. gained $1.05, or 2.4%, to $44.36.
Communications registered in the green, particularly, Telus, up 44 cents, or 1.6%, to $27.99, while Rogers surged 88 cents, or 1.4%, to $64.43.
Gold managed to stay afloat, with Equinox Gold taking on six cents to $7.54, while Alamos Gold climbed 12 cents to $17.44.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Canadian international merchandise trade decreased in February. Exports were down 2.4%, while imports decreased 1.3%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world narrowed from $1.2 billion in January to $422 million in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 8.67 points to 621.37.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower to end Wednesday, with health-care down 2.2%, information technology slipping 1.9%, and industrials fading 1.5%
The four gainers were led by utilities, ahead 1.3%, communications, better by 0.9%, and gold, up 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite fell on Wednesday for a third-straight losing session as investors shifted away from growth stocks amid signs that the U.S. economy is weakening.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained aloft 80.34 points to 33,482.72, bolstered by an outperformance by health care stocks.
The S&P 500 swooned 10.22 points to 4,090.38.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ dropped 129.46 points, or 1.1%, to 11,996.86.
High-growth tech stocks were under pressure on Wednesday, with Zscaler off 8% and Crowdstrike falling 7%. Chip stocks were also under pressure, with Advanced Micro Devices falling 3%.
The defensive tilt of the market helped health care stocks outperform, boosting the Dow. Johnson & Johnson shares rose 3.5% after the pharmaceutical company said Tuesday it would pay $8.9 billion over the next 25 years to settle claims that its talc products caused cancer. Utilities stocks also outperformed.
Meanwhile, the energy market added to uncertainty this week after OPEC+ said it would cut output by 1.16 million barrels of oil per day.
Wednesday’s moves came as traders mulled over the latest ADP private payroll report, which showed slowing job growth in March.
That followed Tuesday’s job openings report that suggested the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the labour market might finally be having an effect. In February, the number of available positions fell below 10 million for the first time in nearly two years.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury strengthened, lowering yields to 3.31% from Tuesday 3.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices descended 30 cents to $80.41 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices declined one dollar to $2,037.20 U.S. an ounce.
