The autumn bottom has not yet been achieved by markets in Toronto, as stocks plunged yet again early Thursday, after taking their biggest plunge in more than five months Wednesday.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell another 42.99 points to begin Thursday at 13,090.43
The Canadian dollar ditched half a cent to 93.94 cents U.S.
BRP Inc, the maker of Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Sea-Doo watercraft, reported a 52% rise in quarterly profit, driven by strong shipments of snowmobiles worldwide, and it raised its full-year adjusted profit forecast. BRP shares, which trade under the symbol DOO in Toronto, hiked nearly 7%, or $1.87, to $28.70
Travel operator Transat AT Inc's quarterly profit more than tripled as better pricing boosted margins. Transat leaped $1.06 in price, or nearly 8%, to $14.33.
Bombardier Inc. said that American Airlines Group Inc would buy 30 of its CRJ900 NextGen aircraft and had also taken options on an additional 40 planes. Bombardier shares eased two cents to $4.48.
Air Canada said on Wednesday it will purchase up to 109 of Boeing Co's 737 MAX under its narrow-body fleet renewal plan, a major win for the aircraft maker and significant shift in supplier for Canada's largest carrier, whose stock gained a penny to $7.69.
Canadian National Railway Co. said on Wednesday that it aims to improve its industry-leading operating efficiency over the next three years, even as it carries more goods. CN shares 14.5 cents to $57.80.
Cenovus Energy said it expected to spend 13% less in 2014, and forecast a 10% jump in oil production. Cenovus shares dipped 19 cents to $30.01.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada’s new housing price index came in for October up 0.1%, following no change in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 5.85 points to 891.18
All but three of the 14 subgroups were lower to begin the session, weighed by utilities, down 2.3%, while metals and mining and gold stocks each gave back 1.8%.
The three gainers were energy, up 0.3%, industrials, inching up 0.1%, and health-care, scraping by 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks headed south again Thursday as investors take in some high-profile initial public offerings and look for clues as to when the U.S. Federal Reserve will wind down its bond-buying program.
The Dow Jones Industrials shed 88.81 points to 15,754.72
The S&P 500 index dropped 5.60 points to 1,776.82. The NASDAQ sank 5.29 points to 3,998.52
Stocks often enjoy a nice rally in December but after a record-breaking run for the Dow and S&P 500, the so-called Santa Claus rally has yet to materialize. The S&P 500 has fallen 1.5% so far this month.
Economically, the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims rose to 368,000 last week, higher than what economists were expecting.
Retail sales ticked up from the previous month, according to the Census Bureau, slightly beating Wall Street estimates.
Hilton Worldwide will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday after the hotel chain raised $2.4 billion U.S. through an initial public offering.
Food services company Aramark will also debut after raising $725 million U.S. in its own IPO.
Shares of Lululemon dropped more than 7% after the yogawear producer reported earnings and revenue that beat forecasts, but dimmed its outlook.
Facebook bounced 3% after Standard & Poor's announced late Wednesday that the social networking giant will be added to its benchmark S&P 500 index later this month.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were lower, raising yields to 2.88% from Wednesday’s 2.84%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 15 cents to $97.59 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $30.40 to $1,226.80 U.S. an ounce.
