Canada's main stock index slipped on Thursday as weaker commodity prices helped drive down shares of natural resource companies and worries about the lack of positive market catalysts were a drag on sentiment.
The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 138.64 points to greet noon at 14,535.09
The Canadian dollar nicked higher 0.06 cents to 91.90 cents U.S.
Also weighing was a decline in CI Financial Corp, a day after Bank of Nova Scotia said it will explore options to divest some or all of its 37% stake in asset manager and redeploy the capital elsewhere.
Some investors said that the recent gains, which have seen the Toronto market climb nearly 7% so far in 2014, could be setting the benchmark up for a pullback.
Shares of energy producers were hurt in part by a decline in the price of U.S. crude oil. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd lost 1.9% to $43.53, and Suncor Energy was down 1% at $42.63.
The materials sector, fell as Barrick Gold Corp slipped 1.1% to $18.73, and Teck Resources Ltd shed 1.4% to $24.94.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, gave back ground, with Manulife Financial Corp falling 1.7% to $19.99.
CI shares tumbled 6.1% to $33.92, but Scotiabank added 0.3% to $67.20.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales in this country edged up 0.4% to $50.9 billion in March, the sixth advance in seven months.
The nation’s number crunchers say the rise mostly reflected higher sales in the food, machinery, and plastics and rubber products industries. However, these increases were largely offset by declines in the paper, and petroleum and coal products industries.
Lastly, according to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association, national home sales rose 2.7% from March to April. CREA also said the number of newly listed homes climbed 2.9% from March to April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange plummeted 14.79 points to 976.95
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative by noon, with materials and gold each off 1.8%, and the metals and mining sector down 1.5%.
The two gainers were telecoms, up 0.6%, and real-estate, up 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Fear returned to Wall Street Thursday in a big way. Stocks were down across the board as the bears came out from hibernation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average staggered 184.21 points to 16,429.76
The S&P 500 dipped 23.08 points to 1,865.45, and the NASDAQ composite index swooned 53.25 points to 4,047.38
The selling adds to Wednesday's losses, and marks a significant shift from the recent trend. The Dow has hit a string of record closing levels this week. To put it in perspective, the S&P 500 crossed the 1,900 mark for the first time on Tuesday.
Investors were rattled by poor earnings and sales data from Wal-Mart. The big discount retailer said its results were hurt by bad weather and a delay in tax refunds caused by last fall's government shutdown.
Kohl's also had bad news. The department store chain said sales fell 3.4% in the first quarter, missing the company's own expectations.
After the market closes, fellow retailers J.C. Penney and Nordstrom will release quarterly reports.
General Motors announced five new recalls covering 2.7 million vehicles, including a wiring flaw tied to 13 accidents and two injuries. It was the latest in a string of high-profile recalls this year that have hit the automaker's bottom line.
The technology sector was a bright spot in early trading Thursday. Cisco Systems shares rallied more than 7% after the maker of information technology equipment and software reported earnings that beat expectations last night.
The fast-food industry is also in the spotlight Thursday as workers plan demonstrations in 150 cities around the world to protest low wages. Shares of McDonald's, Domino's and Burger King were only down modestly so far.
On the economic front, the government said new claims for unemployment benefits fell in the week ending May 10. As expected, consumer prices increased 0.3% in April. Excluding food and energy prices, the consumer price index rose 0.2% last month.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries marched, lowering yields to 2.50% from Wednesday’s 2.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices subtracted 91 cents to $101.46 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $9.80 to $1,296.10 U.S. an ounce.
