Canada's main stock index got bruised at Thursday’s opening, mirroring the performance of offshore markets, as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke raised fears the U.S. central bank would end its bond-buying program sooner-than-expected.
The S&P/TSX composite index jettisoned 138.44 points, or 1.1%, to begin Thursday at 12,614.06
The Canadian dollar regained 0.25 cents to 96.70 cents U.S.
Toronto-Dominion Bank quarterly profit rose 2%, driven by stronger wholesale banking income. TD shares began Thursday down 86 cents, or 1%, to $83.18.
European Union antitrust regulators accepted concessions from Lufthansa, United Airlines, Air Canada and Continental to ease competition concerns about their transatlantic revenue-sharing pact. Air Canada shares shed a nickel, or more than 2%, to $2.02
To another mode of transport, Canadian Pacific Railway announced it will become a "more aggressive" buyer of short-line regional railroads as it improves its financial performance and operating efficiency. CP shares dropped $2.94, or 2.1%, to $136.82.
On the economic slate this morning, Statistics Canada reported that those of us on employment insurance decreased 5,200, or 1%, in March to 523,700. It was the fifth straight drop. StatsCan also says compared with a year earlier, the number of beneficiaries was down 8.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 10.20 points to 931.88
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups began the session negative, weighed by metals and mining, tumbling 3.5%, global base metals, down 2.7%, and energy, off 1.6%.
The lone holdout against the tide was in the gold sector, brightening 1.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks stumbled out of the gate Thursday after Japanese equities dove overnight, as global markets reacted to weak Chinese manufacturing data and worries about the Federal Reserve tapering its bond-buying program.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 63.55 points to kick off Thursday at 15,243.60
The S&P 500 index skidded 17.43 points to 1,637.92. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite drooped 16.28 points to 3,447.02
Japanese stocks led an Asian selloff Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 Index closing down 7.3%, its worst single-day loss since March 2011.
On the corporate front, shares of Ralph Lauren slumped after the retailer failed to meet lowered revenue forecasts, even as earnings jumped 35%.
Gap and Sears Holdings are up after the bell.
Shares of Hewlett-Packard surged about 11% after the PC-maker reported quarterly earnings that beat estimates.
Shares of Tesla nudged higher, a day after the electric car maker announced that it had repaid a $465-million U.S. loan from the government nearly a decade before it was scheduled to do so.
Economically speaking, data showed that U.S. weekly jobless claims dropped by 23,000 to 340,000 in the week ended May 18, keeping the level of initial claims in a range consistent with modest job growth.
In addition, the Federal Housing Finance Agency released its home-price report for March, saying U.S. home prices rose a seasonally-adjusted 1.3% in March.
Markit also said its flash manufacturing purchasing managers for May fell to 51.9, its lowest reading since October, though the agency’s overall report was mixed.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury hiked, lowering yields to 2.00% from Wednesday’s 2.03%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped $1.72 to $92.56 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices reacquired $17.50 at $1,384.90 U.S. an ounce
