Canada's main stock index fell more than 1% on Thursday, with materials and technology shares leading declines as minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's June meeting sparked concerns of more interest rate hikes.
The TSX staggered 423.86 points, or 1.2%, to open Thursday at 19,882.74.
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.22 cents to 75.05 cents U.S.
Among individual stocks, Aritzia slumped to the bottom of the TSX, down $2.76, or 7.5%, to $34.29, after BofA Global Research downgraded the apparel and accessories retailer's shares to "underperform" from "neutral".
Magna International gained $2.31, or 3.1%, to $77.34, after BofA upgraded the automotive supplier's shares to "buy" from "neutral".
Abu Dhabi state holding firm ADQ and Bank of Montreal said in a joint statement that they plan to acquire minority equity stakes in asset manager Sagard. Shares in “The First Canadian Bank” backtracked $1.51, or 1.3%, to $118.94.
Bausch + Lomb said it has acquired Johnson & Johnson's eye and contact lens drops for $106.5 million in an all-cash deal. Bausch & Lomb dropped 37 cents, or 1.4%, to $26.02.
CIBC upgraded Information Services Corp to "outperform" from "neutral". Information Services stock zoomed $3.13, or 14.3%, to $24.98.
On the economic schedule Thursday, Statistics Canada said Canada’s international merchandise trade rose 3.0% in May, while exports decreased 3.8%. With imports and exports posting strong variations in opposite directions, Canada's merchandise trade balance went from a $894 million surplus in April to a $3.4 billion deficit in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 6.34 points to 616.47.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, with health-care retreating 3.1%, information technology and materials each down 2%.
The two gainers were communications and consumer discretionary stocks, each up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Thursday after better-than-expected jobs data increased investors’ anxiety around the state of the economy and path of interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 423.86 points, or 1.2%, to begin Thursday trading at 33,864.78.
The S&P 500 folded 55.98 points to 4,390.84.
The NASDAQ index slid 204.06 points to 13,589.31.
JetBlue Airways slipped more than 2% after the company announced it would end its partnership in the northeast U.S. with American Airlines to focus on Spirit Airlines. American shares moved more than 1% lower, while Spirit added more than 2%.
Private sector jobs increased by 497,000 in June, according to data from payroll processing firm ADP, in the biggest monthly gain since July 2022. June’s increase was more than double the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 220,000 gained and far better than the downwardly revised 267,000-job addition seen in May.
The ADP data, which is often unreliable and more volatile than other jobs data, comes ahead of Friday’s official June payrolls report.
Economists are expecting 240,000 non-farm payrolls were added last month, a slowing from the 339,000 jobs added in May, according to Dow Jones.
However, traders may now be expecting a hotter number that leads to the Fed resuming its hiking campaign this month after a pause at the June meeting. Traders are pricing in an approximately 92% chance of a hike at the central bank’s meeting later this month.
Job openings fell more than expected in May, according to a Labor Department report. That data can provide hope that the job market may be cooling.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped sharply, raising yields to 4.06% from Wednesday’s 3.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dumped $1.41 to $70.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices withered $14.40 to $1,912.70 U.S. an ounce.
