Canadian stocks fell more than 200 points on Monday as a spike in coronavirus cases outside China led to fears of a pandemic and prompted a broad-based selloff.
The TSX Composite Index tumbled 254.63 points, or 1.4%, to move into noon hour at 17,588.90.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.1 cents to 75.34 cents U.S.
The top gainers on the TSX were Eldorado Gold Corp which jumped 99 cents, or 7.6%, to $14.09, after a swathe of price target hikes on the stock, and MTY Food Group, which rose $5.16, or 10.4%, to $54.93 after posting a rise in its fourth-quarter earnings.
Ballard Power Systems fell $2.29, or 13.2%, the most on the TSX, to $15.05, as it continued to retreat from last week's record high, while the second biggest loser was First Quantum Minerals, down 10.8%.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale trade ended its two-month losing streak, picking up 0.9% to $63.9 billion in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 12.32 points, or 2.1%, to 570.35
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower midday, with energy plunging 4.1%, health-care down 3.9%, and information technology sliding 2.9%.
The two gainers were gold, ahead 2.5%, and materials, better by 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Monday as the number of coronavirus cases outside China surged, stoking fears of a prolonged global economic slowdown from the virus spreading.
The Dow Jones Industrials collapsed 952.6 points, or 3.3%, to 28,039.81. Monday’s drop put the Dow on pace for its biggest one-day point drop since August.
At its low of the day, the Dow was down 997.04 points. The 30-stock Dow is also negative for 2020.
The S&P 500 slouched 107.14 points, or 3.2%, to 3,230.61,
The NASDAQ folded 365.09 points, or 3.8%, to 9,212.50
Airline stocks Delta and American were both down more than 7% while United traded 4% lower. Shares of casino operators Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts dropped at least 3.8% each. MGM Resorts slid 4.7%.
Chipmakers were also down broadly. Nvidia shares were down more than 6% while Dow-component Intel traded 3.4% lower. AMD dipped 7.6%.
Apple and its suppliers took a hit as well. Shares of the iPhone maker were down by 4.3%. Skyworks Solutions and Qorvo dropped more than 3% each.
Monday’s moves came as investors watch developments surrounding the coronavirus outbreak that was first reported in China, but has spread rapidly in other countries especially South Korea and Italy, which reported a spike in the number of confirmed cases in recent days.
South Korea raised its coronavirus alert to the "highest level" over the weekend, with the latest spike in numbers bringing the total infected to more than 750 — making it the country with the most cases outside mainland China.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury gained sharply, lowering yields to 1.37% from Friday’s 1.47%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $2.61 to $50.77 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $25.80 to $1,674.60 U.S. an ounce.
