Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday, as lower crude prices pulled down energy shares, while precious metal miners were hurt by a fall in gold pries.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 84.76 points by noon Thursday to 16,417.99
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.19 cents to 74.23 cents
Bombardier plunged four cents, or 1.7%, to $2.30, and was among the biggest losers in the main index, after the planemaker shocked workers in Northern Ireland by announcing it would sell its Belfast operation, the largest high-tech manufacturer in the British region, which employs 3,600 people.
Among earnings reports, SNC-Lavalin Group dropped $2.02, or 6.1%, to $31.33 after the company reported a 73% plunge in adjusted quarterly profit and said it would speed up its plans to simplify operational structure to save costs and improve efficiency.
Maple Leaf Foods recovered 15 cents to $31.90, after the packaged meat producer reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, hit by higher costs as it invested more in new initiatives and capacity expansion.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Pason Systems, which rose $1.22, or 6.3%, to $20.68 after reporting higher quarterly revenue.
Parkland Fuel declined 51 cents, or 1.2%, to $40.90 and was among the biggest gainers after its first-quarter profit beat analysts' estimates.
CannTrust Holdings fell $1.05, or 12.1%, the most on the TSX, to $7.62after the company priced its stock offering.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 10.35 points to 559.56
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups stayed negative up to noon hour, with health-care capsizing 3.4%, energy lagging 1.6%, and materials weaker by 1%.
The three gainers were information technology, surging 1%, while utilities and consumer discretionary issues each gained 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Thursday as interest rates continued to rise following comments on Wednesday by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 216.11 points to 26,214.03
The S&P 500 decreased 18.26 points to 2,905.47,
The NASDAQ Composite index subtracted 53.19 points to 7,996.45, despite a gain in Tesla shares.
Tesla shares rose more than 2% after the company unveiled a plan to raise up to $2 billion, with $1.35 billion coming from convertible bonds. The remaining $650 million would come from new equity, which includes a $10-million purchase by CEO Elon Musk.
There’s a pullback in the tech sector as Apple and Microsoft fell from their highs on earnings beats earlier this week. Shares of the iPhone maker fell 0.8% Thursday after surging as much as 6% on Tuesday when it reported strong guidance and an improvement in its China business.
Microsoft was down more than 1.6%, falling for a second day after briefly hitting $1 trillion market cap on strong earnings.
Meanwhile, earnings season continued with companies like Square reporting better-than-expected results on Wednesday after the close.
However, the stock fell more than 7% as Square issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the second quarter.
Under Armour and Dunkin’ Brands reported better-than-expected results on Thursday. Armour shares rose 4.7% and Dunkin’ moved up 1.5%. Tempur Sealy also rose 5.5% on stronger-than-forecast results.
More than half of the S&P 500 has reported calendar first-quarter earnings and the results have largely outperformed expectations. Experts said 74.7% of the S&P 500 companies have beaten earnings estimates.
Yields and banks rose after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that recently low inflation pressures may just be “transitory,” hinting that a rate cut may not be on the horizon. Powell’s comments sent stocks tumbling in the previous session, with the Dow closing more than 150 points lower.
Powell’s comments followed the Fed’s decision to leave rates unchanged, citing lackluster inflation. Ahead of the meeting, President Donald Trump had asked the central bank to cut rates and increase stimulus.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 2.55% from Wednesday’s 2.50%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $2.41 to $61.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $11.60 to $1,272.60 U.S. an ounce.
