Stocks in Canada’s largest centre gave back Wednesday’s gains, due to losses in health-care and consumer discretionary stocks, amid the chaos following pronouncements by U.S. President Donald Trump on the trade front.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index came off its lows of the day, but still slipped 75.65 points to end a turbulent Thursday at 16,321.75
The Canadian dollar fought its way forward 0.06 to 74.28 cents
The health-care index was dragged lower by a slide of $1.80, or 8.7%, in Cronos Group, to $18.92, after quarterly results.
Bausch Health Companies let go of 47 cents, or 1.3%, to $35.16.
Among consumer discretionary stocks, Toymaker Spin Master fell $1.79, or 4.1%, to $41.14, and auto parts maker Magna International Inc dropped $7.31, or 10.1%, to $4.40.
Communications were also roughed up, with Rogers down 86 cents, or 1.2%, to $68.41, while Shaw Communications lost three cents to $27.22.
Consumer staples led the few subgroups that did see sunlight Thursday, as Restaurant Brands International surged 56 cents to $90.24, while Loblaw Companies picked up 98 cents, or 1.5%, to $68.53.
Utilities did their best, though Hydro One shares were immobile at $21.74, while Fortis improved 12 cents to $49.72.
Energy stocks enjoyed a modest gain as Canadian Natural Resources added 12 cents to $38.03, while Pembina Pipeline gained 14 cents to $47.49.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada said new house prices stayed put in March, for a second consecutive month.
Also, the agency said, exports rose 3.2% in March, while imports increased 2.5%.
As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $3.4 billion in February to $3.2 billion in March.
Economists were calling for a trade balance of around $2.45 billion.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 6.14 points to 592.11
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups were lower on the session, with health-care subsiding 2.2%, consumer discretionaries failing 1.6%, and communications fading 0.5%.
The three gainers were consumer staples, ahead 0.9%, utilities, better by 0.4% and energy inching up 0.1%,
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Thursday, resuming a deep selloff this week, as the new tariffs President Donald Trump threatened to impose on Chinese goods are poised to go into effect at midnight.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off losses of more than 300 points, during the day, but still finished 153.96 points off the pace to 25,813.37.
The S&P 500 lost 8.7 points to 2,870.72.
The Dow is down more than 650 points and the S&P 500 has lost about 2.5% this week after Trump threatened to raise tariffs on more Chinese goods over the weekend.
Stocks pared some of the losses on Thursday after Trump said it's possible to get a trade deal with China this week. The Dow had fallen nearly 450 points at its intraday low.
The NASDAQ Composite index came off its lows of the morning, but still trailed Wednesday’s close by 32.73 points to 7,910.59
Shares of Intel fell 5.3% on Thursday after sinking nearly 5% in the previous session as the chipmaker said it sees both revenue and earnings per share growing in the "single-digit" percentage range over the next three years.
BMO downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform on Thursday, saying it sees the stock "treading water at best." Other chip stocks fell on trade war concerns.
Chipmakers, sensitive to higher tariffs, took a hit on Thursday as Nvidia fell 2.1%, and Micron lost 1.2%. Apple also fell more than 1% and Boeing is down 1% Thursday.
Chevron's stock rose more than 3% Thursday after the company said it will not submit a new offer to acquire Anadarko Petroleum and will collect a $1-billion breakup fee. The oil major also said it's increasing share repurchase rate by 25% to $5 billion per year.
Liu He, China's vice premier and top trade negotiator, will dine with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other U.S. officials Thursday evening in Washington, just hours before the new tariffs are imposed. Liu is not expected to meet with Trump on Thursday
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury were sharply higher, weighing yields to 2.45% from Wednesday’s 2.49%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slumped 55 cents to $61.57 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $3.40 to $1,284.80 U.S. an ounce.
