The Toronto stock market fell sharply Wednesday as material and energy stocks fell after a large oil inventories rose and pushed crude prices down nearly 3%.
The S&P/TSX Composite dumped 138.53 points to end a dismal Wednesday at 14,626.24
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.10 at 77.34 cents U.S.
Gold stocks took the brunt of the losses, as Goldcorp doffed $2.11, or 9.3%, to $20.71, while Barrick Gold tumbled $2.44, or 9.4%, to $23.49.
Energy stocks also had a rough time, with EnCanada subtracting 35 cents, or 2.7%, to $12.81, and Baytex Energy bruised 36 cents, or 5.3%, to $6.47.
The consumer staples sector provided one of the few bright lights as Alimentation Couche-Tard hiked $1.67, or 2.5%, to $68.37, while Metro added 37 cents to $45.45.
Financials also found their way upward, as Bank of Nova Scotia soared $1.24, or 1.8%, to $68.59, and National Bank gained 34 cents to $47.11
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 28.27 points, or 3.5%, to 789.52
All but two of the 12 subgroups were negative, gold soundly so, off 6.9%, while materials sank 5.7%, and energy fell 1.2%
The two subgroups moving upward were consumer staples, forging 0.5%, and financials, up 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks stateside closed lower on Wednesday, with health care shedding more than 1.5%, while investors eagerly awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The Dow Jones Industrials went south 78.76 points to finish at 18,468.54, with UnitedHealth Group leading decliners and Nike the biggest riser.
The S&P 500 slid 11.46 points to 2,175.44, with health-care leading decliners.
The NASDAQ Composite stumbled 42.38 points to 5,217.69, with biotechs shedding 3.5%. Biotechs erased earlier gains in afternoon trade after Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tweeted about the recent price hikes on EpiPens.
In corporate news, RBC reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with funds set aside to cover bad loans falling thanks to higher oil prices.
La-Z-Boy reported a 1.9% drop in same-store sales for its fiscal first quarter. The firm also posted adjusted earnings of 28 cents a share on revenue of $341 million U.S., missing expectations. La-Z-Boy shares fell more than 12.5% in afternoon trade.
Investors also watched oil markets, with U.S. crude falling more than 2.2% in after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 2.5 million barrels.
Economically speaking, existing home sales for July fell 3.2%, more than expected. New home sales data, released Tuesday, reached their highest level in almost nine years.
Yellen is scheduled to speak on the U.S. economy and monetary policy Friday against a backdrop of recent hawkish rhetoric from two of her top lieutenants, New York Fed President William Dudley and Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 1.56% from Tuesday’s 1.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell $1.38 a barrel to $46.72 U.S.
Gold prices fell $18.00 at $1,328.10 U.S. an ounce.
