The Toronto stock market sold off Friday as concerns about the strength of the world’s biggest economy raised demand worries and helped send oil and metal prices tumbling.
The S&P/TSX index slumped 143.78 points, or 1.2%, to finish Friday at 12,337.59
The TSX is now back in negative territory for the year.
The Canadian dollar weakened 0.36 cents at 98.62 cents U.S.
Goldcorp Inc. gave back $1.44 to $30.07.
Barrick Gold faded $2.06, or 8.2%, to $22.94. Barrick shares have been under particularly heavy selling pressure this week, tumbling 9% on Wednesday after a Chilean court suspended its Pascua-Lama mine after indigenous communities complained that the project is threatening their water supply and polluting glaciers.
The energy sector fell as Canadian Natural Resources shed $1.21 to $31.28 while Cenovus Energy fell 51 cents to $30.43.
May copper stepped back 10 cents to $3.33 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector declined. Rio Alto Mining was down 27 cents at $4.33 and Teck Resources dropped 56 cents to $28.14
Weakness spread across all TSX sectors with the financials down 0.5 per cent. Manulife Financial gave back nine cents to $14.33.
Meanwhile, shares in BlackBerry edged three cents higher to $13.85 after the smartphone maker said it will file a formal complaint with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators about a "false and misleading" analyst report that the BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen devices are being returned in unusually high numbers.
The Canadian company and U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless are disputing the report.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange plummeted 25.93 points to 1,022.81
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups ended the day downward. Gold took the biggest hit, collapsing 5.9%, while materials faded 4.2%, and the metals and mining lost 2.9% of its strength.
The only bright spot came from consumer discretionaries, inching up but 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were modestly lower Friday, following weak economic news and mixed bank earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials Average moved to within 0.08 points of Thursday’s all-time record close at 14,865.10, after spending much of the session deeper in negative readings.
The S&P 500 index fell 4.51 points to 1,588.86. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite moved down 5.21 points to 3,294.95
Despite the step back, stocks are on track to finish the week sharply higher, and just below the record highs set Thursday. The Dow and S&P 500 are up about 2% for the week, while the NASDAQ has gained almost 3%.
Stocks have been on a tear this year. The Dow and S&P 500 are just 1% shy of the next major milestones: 15,000 for the blue chip index, and 1,600 for the broad index.
JPMorgan Chase reported a first-quarter profit that topped forecasts, but revenue missed estimates. Similarly, Wells Fargo reported a jump in profit, but a decline in revenue.
The first quarter was expected to have been a tough one for banks, with interest rates hovering near record lows. Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will report their results next week.
J.C. Penney shares were sharply lower after news that the company hired Blackstone to help the retailer raise $1 billion U.S.
In other corporate news, NASDAQ executives will be getting their bonuses cut this year, and the bungled Facebook IPO is to blame.
On the economic front, the U.S. government reported that retail sales dropped 0.4% in March, dragged down by weakness in electronics and gasoline prices. That was weaker than expected.
The Producer Price Index fell 0.6% in March, a more dramatic drop than the 0.1% economists had forecast.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury surged, dropping yields to 1.72% from Thursday’s 1.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $2.41 to $91.10 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hurtled earthward $78.20 to $1,486.70 U.S. an ounce.
