Equities in Toronto fell further midday Thursday as a pullback in crude oil prices weighed on energy stocks after three days of gains that pushed oil to 2016 highs.
The S&P/TSX Composite plunged 88.39 points to greet noon at 14,243.86
The Canadian dollar remained negative 0.15 cents to 78.63 cents U.S.
Financial stocks also pulled the index lower, hurt by a fall in global bond yields as investors moved on waning expectations of higher U.S. interest rates.
The most influential movers on the index included Manulife Financial, which declined 2% to $18.64.
Royal Bank of Canada fell 1.1% to $78.92, Toronto-Dominion Bank lost 0.9% to $57.08, and the heavyweight financials group slipped.
The energy group retreated, with Canadian Natural Resources down 0.7% to $38.32.
Baytex Energy Corp declined 1.5% to $8.30 after a sharp jump in recent days. The company has restarted nearly all the heavy crude output it shut last year, encouraged by the months-long rally in oil prices.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index moved up 0.3% in April, following a 0.2% increase in March, the largest monthly advance since October and mainly driven by new housing prices in Ontario.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained back 5.38 points to 716.75
All but three of the 13 TSX subgroups were negative, with metals and mining skidding 3.7%, consumer staples tottering 1.2%, and financials fading 1%
The two gainers were gold, ahead 1.3%, and health-care, advancing 0.3%. Materials shares were unchanged by noon hour.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks stayed red by the middle of the session on Thursday, amid a pullback in oil prices from recent multi-month highs and a decline in global benchmark yields.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 83.59 points to 17,921.46, with Caterpillar leading decliners and McDonald's the top advancer.
The S&P 500 lost 9.96 points at 2,109.16. Financials traded more than 1% lower to lead S&P 500 decliners in morning trade.
The NASDAQ retreated 26 points to 4,948.64
Traders also noted some pressure on stocks from an overnight Wall Street Journal report that billionaire investor George Soros recently directed a series of "big, bearish investments" of purchases in gold and gold miner shares after a long break from trading.
On the data front, weekly jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 264,000. Wholesale inventories rose 0.6% April.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury rose, lowering yields to 1.67% from Wednesday’s 1.7%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 67 cents a barrel to $50.43 U.S.
Gold prices bolted up $10.00 to $1,272.30 U.S. an ounce.
