Canada's main stock index lagged at open on Thursday, hurt by losses in materials and financials stocks as risk appetite remained on a weak footing a day after a surprise downgrade of the United States' credit rating.
The TSX lost another 96.8 points, or 1.5%, to kick off Thursday at 20,121.41.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.04 cents to 74.88 cents U.S.
Among company earnings, Canada's largest oil and gas producer Canadian Natural Resources posted a second-quarter profit that more than halved. Natural Resources shares dipped 28 cents to $78.80.
On Wednesday, Shopify forecast strong revenue growth and delivered better-than-expected results, while world's biggest fertilizer Nutrien decided to indefinitely pause its ramp-up plans for potash production and halt work on its clean ammonia project at Geismar, Louisiana. Shopify shares docked 41 cents to $82.98.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange let go of 0.29 points to 611.63.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups declined, as utilities dumped 1.8%, materials were lower by 1%, and real-estate ditched 0.8%.
The three gainers proved to be energy, ahead 0.4%, health-care, inching up 0.3%, and industrials, eking 0.03% higher.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks moved lower Thursday, continuing Wednesday’s selloff trend, as Wall Street assessed a rise in interest rates and scrutinized the latest earnings results, offering insight into the health of corporations.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 82.42 points to begin Thursday at 35,200.10.
The S&P 500 Index slipped 19.23 points to 4,494.16.
The NASDAQ index lost 38.28 points to 13,935.17.
The busy earnings week carried on, with chipmaker Qualcomm losing 10% after missing third-quarter revenue expectations and issuing disappointing guidance. PayPal slumped 10% after posting in-line results, while Moderna gained 1.5% on a boosted COVID vaccine outlook.
Tech bellwethers Apple and Amazon are slated to report after the close. Thus far, nearly 79% of the constituents in the S&P 500 have issued their latest quarterly reports, with about 82% beating expectations.
Wall Street also assessed the latest economic data, including in-line weekly jobless claims and second-quarter productivity data that showed an uptick.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury crashed, raising yields to 4.17% from Wednesday’s 4.07%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.04 to $80.53 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subtracted $3.40 to $1,971.60 U.S. an ounce.
