Equities fell hard in Canada on Friday, as stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer price data stoked fears that the Federal Reserve would continue with its aggressive policy tightening to tame soaring inflation.
The S&P/TSX collapsed 305.19 points, or 1.5%, to head into noon hour at 20,258.70.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.52 cents to 78.19 cents U.S.
Techs took the worst of it, with HUT 8 Mining down 12 cents, or 4.8%, to $2.40, while Lightspeed slumped $2.43, or 3.6%, to $29.58.
Cannabis stocks were also bowled over, with Aurora Cannabis off 11 cents, or 5.9%, to $1.76, and Canopy Growth sliding 22 cents, or 4.5%, to $4.66.
Gold stocks tried to even things out, with Equinox Gold ahead 33 cents, or 4.5%, to $7/61, while NovaGold emerged better 32 cents, or 4.5%, to $7.39. In other resources, Endeavour Silver jumped 23 cents, or 5%, to $4.87.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported the economy created 40,000 jobs in May, bringing the unemployment rate down to 5.1%.
The number of Canadians who own cryptoassets is growing rapidly and efforts to regulate the sector need to start keeping pace, a senior Bank of Canada official said, noting many people may not understand the risk of investing in products like bitcoin.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 11.76 points, or 1.7%, to 700.12.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative midday, with information technology fading 3.6%, health-care less well 2.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks lower 2.4%.
The two gainers were gold, up 3%, and materials, better by 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks dropped on Friday after a highly anticipated inflation report showed a faster-than-expected rise in prices and consumer sentiment hit a record low.
The Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 793.93 points, or 2.5%, to 31,478.86.
The S&P 500 handed back 112 points, or 2.8%, to 3,905.82.
The NASDAQ Composite plunged 407.39 points, or 3.5%, to 11,346.83.
The selloff was broad, with nearly every member of the 30-stock Dow in the red. Apple dropped 2.9%, while Microsoft and Dow, Inc. fell more than 3%.
The drop for stocks means that Wall Street is headed for yet another losing week. Entering Friday, the Dow was lower by 1.9%, on track for its 10th down week in the past 11. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite were both off by more than 2%, on pace for their ninth losing week in 10.
The hot inflation reading could lead traders to price in more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve later this year.
Tech stocks were under pressure as investors grappled with higher rates and a potential recession. Shares of Netflix dropped nearly 5% following a downgrade from Goldman Sachs. Chip giant Nvidia slid 4%.
Banks and cyclical stocks also moved lower, possibly reflecting recession fears. Shares of Wells Fargo shed 4%. Boeing dropped 3.6%.
The May consumer price index report came in at its highest level since 1981, putting pressure on the stock market. The report showed prices rising 8.6% year over year, and 6% when excluding food and energy prices. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting year over year increases of 8.3% for the main index and 5.9% for the core index.
The hot inflation flamed concerns about a potential recession for the U.S. economy. Elsewhere, the preliminary June reading for the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index came in well below expectations, hitting a record low.
Treasury prices swooned, raising yields to 3.15% from Thursday’s 3.05%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.85 to $119.66 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices forked over $13.70 to $1,866.50 U.S. an ounce.
