Equities in Canada’s biggest centre opened lower on Friday, with metals and technology companies weighing as crude prices slipped on signs of rising supply.
The S&P/TSX composite index hurtled lower 90.11 points to open Friday at 15,296.66.
The Canadian dollar garnered 0.26 cents to 82.31 cents U.S.
Base metals were also heavy in the early going, as Thompson Creek Metals demurred five cents, or 3.1%, to $1.56, and Imperial Metals sank 34 cents, or 2.6%, to $12.80.
Also plunging were telecoms, as Rogers Communications dipped 69 cents, or 1.6%, to $41.34. Information technology issues were also lower, as BlackBerry lost five cents, or 0.4%, to $12.05.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index gained 0.4% for March, after a 0.2% hike in February.
Retail trade rose 1.7% in February to $42.2 billion, as gains were widespread as all 11 retail sub-sectors reported higher sales.
Moreover, the agency said, foreign investment in Canadian securities strengthened to $9.3 billion in February, mostly foreign purchases of federal government bonds.
Meanwhile, investors here resumed their investment in foreign securities by adding $9.4 billion to their holdings, mainly U.S. instruments.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 1.03 points to 706.62
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower to start the day, as global base metals tumbled 1.3%, while telecoms and information technology stocks were each down 1.1%.
Only gold – up 0.7% -- and materials – up 0.2%-- bucked the downward trend.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded sharply lower on Friday, following a global decline in equities on renewed Greece concerns and new Chinese trading regulations, amid U.S. inflation and consumer data.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 258.15 points, or 1.4%, to 17,847.62, with American Express leading laggards and only General Electric gaining.
The S&P 500 index dropped 19.05 points to 2,085.94, with energy leading all sectors except utilities lower.
The NASDAQ index plummeted 60.29 points to 4,947.50.
Among the few earnings reports before the bell, GE's adjusted earnings beat by a penny a share, but revenue came in light.
Futures held lower but above morning lows after the consumer price index showed an increase of 0.2% in March, below expectations of 0.3%.
However, the figure marked the second-straight month of gains and matched February's 0.2% gain. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, came in slightly above expectations at 0.2%, the same level as in February.
Major European stock indices were down about one percent or more, following a selloff in Chinese futures over news of coming government regulation to expand short-selling and limit over-the-counter margin trading.
Focus for European markets has been on Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis' visit to meet IMF officials, as investors become increasingly nervous about the funding crisis in Greece.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were static Friday, keeping yields at Thursday’s 1.89%.
Oil prices eased two cents to $56.69 U.S.
Gold prices moved up $5.80 to $1,203.80 U.S.
