Stock markets in Toronto continued to fall back Friday from large gains at mid-week after the U.S. Federal Reserve's surprising decision to keep a key monetary stimulus program in place longer than expected.
The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 120.31 points Friday to end the week at 12806.47
The Canadian dollar eased 0.34 cents to 97.08 cents U.S.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, most sectors were lower, with the gold sector leading the decline. Shares in Agnico Eagle Mines dipped 5.9%, or $1.74, to $27.70.
The metals and mining sector was down, as December copper dipped three cents to $3.32 U.S. a pound. Shares in Teck Resources fell 83 cents, or 2.8%, to $28.51.
The energy sector also tumbled, while Imperial Oil gave back five cents to $44.83, and Suncor shares were lower by 15 cents to $36.96.
The information technology sector also skidded, with shares in BlackBerry jettisoning 17.1%, or $1.85, to $8.97.
Amid the gloom, telecoms found a way up, led by Rogers Communications, ahead 53 cents, or 1.2%, to $44.79.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index rose 1.1% in the 12 months to August, following a 1.3% increase in July. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% in August, matching the increase in July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 6.78 points Friday to 946.10
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower Friday, weighed mostly by gold, down 4.8%, information technology, swooning 3.2%, and materials, off 3.1%.
The lone gainer was in telecoms, up 0.3%. Financials were flat Friday.
ON WALLSTREET
More uncertainty is what investors will be faced with for the next few months. And markets hate uncertainty.
The Dow Jones Industrials collapsed 185.46 points, or 1.2%, Friday to 15,451.10, amid a slew of unanswered questions such as when the U.S. Federal Reserve cut back on buying bonds, whether the government would shut down on October 1, whether the government would default on its debt.
The S&P 500 index faded 12.60 points to 1,709.74. The NASDAQ dropped 14.66 points to 3,774.73.
Even with Friday's selloff, stocks ended the week up between 0.5% and 1.3%.
Shares of BlackBerry dropped more than 17% after the company announced losses of nearly $1 billion for its second quarter and plans to cut 4,500 jobs.
The lines may have been long for Apple's newest iPhones, but investors aren't racing to buy up Apple's stock. It's down more than 33% over the past year, and as sales for the latest iteration of the iPhone kicked off in stores in the U.S., China and seven other countries Friday, Apple's stock moved down another 1%.
Darden Restaurants, which operates the Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains, reported weaker-than-expected sales and profits.
Darden also said it's planning workforce reductions. The stock slipped more than 7%. One trader suggested this could be a bad sign for the economy. Consumers may be pulling back.
A slew of companies hit all-time highs, including Netflix, Tesla, Amazon and Facebook.
Priceline's stock continued to rise as well. It appeared set to finish above $1,000 U.S. a share for the second straight day..
It was a great day for companies with incendiary themed names to debut.
Shares of ad buying platform Rocket Fuel and cybersecurity firm FireEye both nearly doubled from their IPO prices.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 2.73% from Thursday’s 2.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.82 to $104.57 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices settled $37.80 at $1,331.50 U.S. an ounce.
