Canada's main stock index fell on Friday as energy shares tumbled alongside the price of oil after Goldman Sachs cut its crude forecast.
The S&P/TSX composite index plummeted 102.38 points to greet noon Friday at 13,467.51
The Canadian dollar eased 0.07 cents to 75.38 cents U.S.
Investors were also looking ahead to next week's meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which could prove pivotal if the central bank decides to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
The uncertainty over whether the Fed will lift rates next week or wait until later in the year could mean greater volatility in global markets, including Canada.
Oil companies were among the biggest drags on the index, with Suncor Energy down 2% at $34.32 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd declining 3.3% to $26.65.
The overall energy group retreated, while stocks of other natural resources companies also fell, including Goldcorp, down 1.9% at $16.47.
Shares of Dollarama gave up early gains to trade slightly lower after the discount retailer posted a better-than-expected increase in quarterly profit and sales. A number of firms raised their price target for Dollarama on Friday morning. Dollarama edged down 0.1% at $85.46
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched down 2.27 points midday Friday to 547.01
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower, weighed mostly by energy, sliding 2.6%, gold, down 1.3%, and telecoms, off 1.1%.
The five gainers were led by global base metals, up 0.3%, while real-estate and health-care each eked up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher Friday, as investors eyed declines in oil prices and remained uncertain ahead of the key Federal Reserve meeting next week.
The Dow Jones industrial average recouped 45.30 points to 16,375.70, boosted by UnitedHealth and McDonald's.
The S&P 500 moved up 2.42 points to 1,954.71. Health-care led gains in the S&P 500 sectors, while energy briefly fell more than 1.5% as the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index recovered 3.22 points to 4,799.47.
The major averages are up more than 1% each for the week so far, with the Dow and S&P on track for their best week since July and the NASDAQ on track for its best week since the end of August.
On the earnings front, Mattress Firm missed estimates by five cents with adjusted quarterly profit of 67 cents U.S. per share, with revenue also missing forecasts. Kroger is also expected to report before the bell.
Kroger reported second-quarter earnings of 44 cents U.S. a share on revenue of $25.54 billion U.S, for a 25% increase in profit from the same period last year.
Stocks hit session lows after preliminary September consumer sentiment came in at 85.7, the lowest since September 2014 and below expectations of 91.2. The final read for August was 91.9.
Futures extended losses slightly after the Producer Price Index (PPI) for August came in unchanged, mildly beating expectations for a 0.1% decline. The core PPI was up 0.7% in the 12 months through August.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields to 2.19% from Thursday’s 2.23%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.02 a barrel to $44.90 U.S.
Gold prices shed $8.10 to $1,101.20 U.S. an ounce.
