Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday as investors digested the U.S. Federal Reserve's statement on monetary policy during mid-afternoon.
The S&P/TSX composite index tumbled 96.68 points to close Wednesday at 14,527.57
The Canadian dollar was down 0.19 cents to 89.35 cents U.S.
The gold-mining sector fell, with the price of bullion declining. Barrick Gold Corp shed 4.4% to $14.44 and Goldcorp was down 3.7% at $24.15.
Financials slipped as Royal Bank of Canada gave back 0.5% to $79.05.
Among energy producers, Suncor Energy slid 0.4% to $38.83. Canadian Natural Resources dipped 0.1% to $38.69.
Horizon North Logistics lost 30.9% to $3.20, after the company reported results and gave an outlook late on Tuesday.
The economic spotlight shone on two items today: wholesale inflation, in the form of the industrial product price index, eased 0.4% in September, mainly due to lower prices for energy and petroleum products.
Elsewhere, the raw materials price index gave back 1.8% in September, largely as a result of lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange turned negative 6.95 points to 781.07.
All 14 Toronto subgroups were lower on the day, with gold sinking 3.6%, materials off 2.1%, and global base metals the worse by 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, a day after the S&P 500 rose to within 2% of its record, as Wall Street mulled the ramifications of the widely telegraphed ahead monetary-policy decision from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials slid 19.16 points to 16,986.59, with DuPont leading blue-chip declines after saying there were "competitive" reasons to keep its businesses together.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.75 points to 1,982.30. The NASDAQ index faded 15.06 points to 4,540.49.
Facebook shares slid as the social network projected slower revenue growth this quarter and said spending would increase in 2015.
Orbital Sciences dropped, a day after its unmanned rocket exploded just after taking off for the International Space Station.
Hershey declined after the chocolate maker posted third-quarter earnings below estimates and cut its guidance for the year, and U.S. Steel surged after posting better-than-estimated quarterly results.
Of the 287 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported third-quarter earnings, 75.3% have beaten estimates, better than the 63% of companies that beat in a typical quarter, going back to 1994, according to Thomson Reuters.
As expected, the central bank announced an end to monthly bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, that helped fuel stock gains and increased the Fed's balance sheet to a record.
The central bank kept its language on keeping interest rates low for a "considerable time" as it ended its two-day meeting, but dropped its "significant" wording in regards to slack in the U.S. labour market.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dipped, raising yields to 2.32% from Tuesday’s 2.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.08 to $82.50 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $18.00 to $1,211.40 U.S. an ounce.
