Canada's main stock index fell to near one-week lows on Tuesday, dragged down by technology and cannabis stocks, while investors remained wary ahead of an interest rate decision from the Bank of Canada (BoC) tomorrow.
The TSX Composite tumbled 125.62 points to move toward noon Tuesday at 20,116.64.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.33 cents to 73.28 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks took the brunt of the selloff, with Canopy Growth weakening 56 cents, or 9.6%, to $5.30, while Cronos Group fell 43 cents, or 9.1%, to $4.31.
In tech stocks, Lightspeed Commerce skidded $1.06, or 4.9%, to $20.75, while HUT 8 Mining lost seven cents, or 4.5%, to $1.48.
Gold stocks moved up, though, primarily, Torex Gold Resources, better by 55 cents, or 4.3%, to $13.44, while Osisko Gold Royalties picked up20 cents, or 1.2%, to $17.00.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said Canada's merchandise exports rose 1.5% in October, while imports increased 0.6%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world widened from $607 million in September to $1.2 billion in October. The IVEY PMI index registered at 51.4 in November, compared to 50.1 in October, and much lower than its November 2021 reading of 61.2.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed buoyant 2.35 points to 583.99
All but three of the 12 subgroups were lower, with health-care trailing off 4.4%, information technology subtracting 1.9%, and financials off 0.8%.
The three gainers were gold, ahead 0.5%, materials, better by 0.3%, and real-estate, inching up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks tumbled Tuesday, building on the previous session’s losses as fears of even higher rates stoked fears of a recession.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 210.82 points to 33,736.28.
The S&P 500 subtracted 39.66 points to 3,959.18, falling for a fourth straight day.
The NASDAQ dropped 149.88 points, or 1.3%, to 11,090.06.
Technology stocks tumbled on fears of slowing growth, with Netflix, Amazon and Alphabet falling about 2% each. Meta platforms fell more than 6% following a slew of news reports.
Better-than-expected November ISM Services data, which looks at the purchasing level of manufacturers as a gauge the health of the broader economy, pressured equities Monday. The report further fueled fears that the Federal Reserve will need to hike rates for longer than anticipated to bring down inflation.
Markets are largely expecting a 50-basis-point rate hike at the Fed’s December meeting, but remain conflicted over how long the central bank’s interest rate hiking campaign will need to last.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained slightly, lowering yields to 3.56% from Monday’s 3.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded $2.10 to $74.83 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $5.40 to $1,786.70 U.S. an ounce.
