Equities in Toronto were punished midday Wednesday, as losses in financial and resource stocks weighed on the main index.
The TSX Composite Index hurtled earthward 565.95 points, or 1.6%, to pause for lunch Wednesday at 35,083.56
The Canadian dollar settled 0.02 cents to 70.13 cents U.S.
The heavily weighted financials slipped, as Royal Bank of Canada plunged $4.90, or 1.8%, to $274.29, and Toronto-Dominion Bank fell $4.72, or 2.8%, to $163.34.
In Canada, investors are pricing in at least one 25-basis-point hike by the Bank of Canada by year-end.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange crumbled 13.87 points, or 1.6%, to 876.25
All but three of the 12 subgroups lost strength, with gold and materials sliding 2.8% each, and financials poorer 2%.
The three gainers were health-care, haler 1.1%, while consumer staples and telecoms each hiked 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Wednesday as pressure continued to build in the bond market, pushing Treasury yields to levels not seen in more than two decades.
The Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 384.32 points to 51,136.96
The S&P 500 dipped 25.4 points to 7,793.43
The NASDAQ Composite lost 124.5 points to 27,475.38, down from an all-time high.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield climbed more than eight basis points to trade at 5.356%. The yield reached its highest level since April 2002. The 30-year bond yield gained more than eight basis points to 5.725%. It had hit its highest level since May 2002.
The latest rise in yields impacted key areas of the market. Bank stocks, for instance, dropped as investors feared higher interest rates would hinder lending activity. Shares of Goldman Sachs moved down nearly 2%, as did Citigroup. Others such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan shed around 1% each.
Technology stocks also came under pressure amid worries that higher borrowing costs would limit the artificial intelligence buildout.
CrowdStrike shares were lower by almost 4%, while Palo Alto Networks sank more than 3% and Meta Platforms lost more than 2%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 5.31% from Tuesday’s 5.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 40 cents to $89.04 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices let go of $53.50 to $4,133.60 U.S. an ounce.
