Canada's main stock index settled into the red by midday on Friday as health-care and materials lost some of their earlier momentum.
The S&P/TSX gave up earlier gains and came down 78.2 points by noon to 20,103.72
Markets in Canada will be closed Monday for Victoria Day.
The Canadian dollar edged forward 0.06 cents at 78.06 cents U.S.
Canada on Thursday said it plans to ban the use of China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE’s 5G gear to protect national security, joining the rest of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network.
Cannabis concerns bore the brunt of investors’ actions, with Canopy Growth down 32 cents, or 4.3%, to $7.19, while Aurora Cannabis tailed off 15 cents, or 3.9%, to $3.74.
Among mining firms, Nutrien shares slid $1.40, or 3.2%, to $125.75, while Interfor docked 69 cents, or 2.2%, to $30.52.
Communications tried to make things brighter, with Quebecor climbing 32 cents, or 1.2%, to $28.21, while TELUS Corporation improved 24 cents to $30.88.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.69 points to 706.27.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower by lunch hour, with health-care ailing 1.5%, materials down 0.8%, and industrials off 0.4%.
The four gainers were led by communications, up 0.4%, utilities, better by 0.3%, and energy, inching ahead 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Friday, extending losses from earlier in the week and putting the S&P 500 on the cusp of a bear market. The relentless selling has the Dow Jones Industrial Average on pace for its eighth negative week in a row.
The 30-stock index fell 206.86 points by noon EDT to 31,046.27.
For the week, the Dow is off by 3.7% for what would be its first eight-week losing streak since 1923 as relentless selling has taken over Wall Street the last two months.
The S&P 500 weakened another 31.25 points to 3,869.54.
The S&P 500 fell 0.6% on Thursday and is now about 19% below a record closing high set in early January. This would be the first bear market — defined by many on Wall Street as a 20% drop from a high — since the pandemic decline of March 2020.
The NASDAQ Composite lurched lower 120.22 points, or 1.1%, to 11,268.27.
The NASDAQ and S&P 500 are on pace to fall for a seventh-straight week, losing about 4% each.
Wall Street dumped shares of semiconductor stocks Friday. Shares of Nvidia fell 5%, Advanced Micro Devices declined 4%, and Marvell Technology slipped more than 2%.
Bank stocks also declined. Shares of JPMorgan Chase dropped 1% and Bank of America fell nearly 2%.
Elsewhere, shares of Deere also fell 7% on Friday after the heavy equipment maker reported a revenue miss. However, the company beat on earnings estimates and raised its annual profit outlook. Shares of Caterpillar also declined more than 3%.
Ross Stores was the latest retailer to fall after posting earnings. The stock was down 20%. CEO Barbara Rentler said that “following a stronger-than-planned start early in the period, sales underperformed over the balance of the quarter.”
Treasury prices gained ground, lowering yields to 2.81% from Thursday’s 2.85%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 52 cents to $112.73 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $!.40 to $1,842.60 U.S. an ounce.
