Equity markets in Canada fell on Wednesday as energy stocks slid and heavyweight banks and railways pulled back amid rising geopolitical tensions and growth worries.
The S&P/TSX composite index let go of 146.89 points, or 1.1%, to pause for noon at 12,773.25
The Canadian dollar fell 0.45 cents to 71 cents U.S.
The most influential weights included pipeline company Enbridge, which fell 2.1% to $45.03, and Suncor Energy, which declined 2.4% to $34.56.
The energy group overall slumped, with oil prices sliding to fresh 11-year lows as tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran made any cooperation between them to cut output even more unlikely.
The index's financials group retreated, with Bank of Nova Scotia off 1.1% to $55.52.
On the positive side, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc rose 2.4% to $144.6 after naming an interim CEO.
Gold miners also rose, including Goldcorp, which advanced 4.2% to $16.88, and Barrick Gold, which jumped 4.1% to $11.14.
Automakers sold fewer light vehicles in Canada during December, but reported record-breaking sales of trucks and cars for 2015, an automotive consultant said on Tuesday.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that this country’s imports decreased 0.7% in November and exports increased 0.4%. Import volumes declined 1.6% while prices increased 0.9%. For exports, volumes were up 0.7% while prices declined 0.4%.
As a result, the agency says, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $2.5 billion in October to $2 billion in November.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange doffed 4.31 points to 519.95
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were negative midday, with metals and mining sliding 4.4%, energy down 3.3%, and industrials, off 1.8%.
The five gainers were led by gold, up 3.2%, while health-care and consumer staples were each up 0.7%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks took a nose dive Wednesday, weighed by worries about global economic growth, low oil prices and increased geopolitical tensions.
The Dow Jones industrial average stumbled 214.52 points, or 1.3%, to 16,944.14, with Chevron leading decliners and Wal-Mart and Walt Disney the only advancers.
The S&P 500 moved up 4.42 points to 2,017.08, with energy leading all 10 sectors lower.
The NASDAQ index fell 11.66 points to 4,891.43. Apple briefly traded more than 1.5% lower, and held above $101 U.S. a share in late-morning trade.
Overnight, the Chinese yuan plunged to a five-year low in offshore trading, sharply widening the gap with the mainland-traded yuan.
The headline Caixin China General Services PMI for December was 50.2, down one point from November and the lowest in 17 months, according to Markit. The report comes after another sub-50 print on manufacturing PMI for both China and the United States in the last few days.
Adding to those concerns Wednesday was North Korea's claim to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
Economically speaking, the December ADP report showed creation of 257,000 payrolls.
The U.S. November trade deficit came in at $42.4 billion. Imports of goods fell to their lowest in nearly five years, outpacing a drop in exports
In other economic news, the U.S. Markit Services PMI for December was 54.3, below November's final print of 56.1.
ISM non-manufacturing came in at 55.3, down from November's 55.9.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday new orders for manufactured goods slipped 0.2% after a downwardly revised 1.3% gain in October
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were higher, lowering yields to 2.19% from Tuesday’s 2.25%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.64 a barrel to $34.33 U.S.
Gold prices grew $12.69 to $1,089.37 U.S. an ounce.
