Equities in Toronto opened way lower on Friday and were on track for their fourth straight week of losses, as investors weighed the U.S. Federal Reserve's stance of keeping interest rates elevated for longer.
The Canadian dollar handed over 0.09 cents to 72.79 cents U.S.
In corporate news, brokerage Evercore ISI upgraded the rating on e-commerce company Shopify to "outperform" from "in line".
National Bank of Canada raised its rating on air cargo service provider Cargojet to "outperform" from "sector perform."
On the macroeconomic calendar, April wholesale trade Wholesale sales grew 2.4% to $83.3 billion in April, while manufacturing sales increased 1.1% in April, mainly due to higher sales of transportation equipment as well as primary metals. Production of aerospace products and parts declined the most.
Motor vehicles sales in this country totaled 175,100 in April, compared to 171,600 the month before.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 8.05 points, or 1.4%, to 575.20.
There were no gainers on the market today. Among the 12 subgroups plummeting, energy weighed 3.1%, gold was down 2.2%, and materials shed 1.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell Friday after the latest consumer sentiment data unexpectedly fell in June, taking a breather after a rally this week sent the benchmark to record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials thundered lower 268.06 points to 38,379.04.
The much-broader index gave back 20.87 points to 5,412.87
The NASDAQ stepped back 16.63 points to 17,650.93.
Elsewhere, software giant Adobe leapt 14% Friday after fiscal second-quarter results surpassed Wall Street estimates.
The University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers showed that consumer sentiment declined to 65.6 in June, down from 69.1 in May. This reading also came below the 71.5 Dow Jones estimate.
Wholesale inflation unexpectedly ticked down by 0.2% last month, while economists polled by Dow Jones expected the gauge to increase by 0.1%. That follows a consumer price index reading that was flat on a monthly basis in May.
Stocks are coming off a winning session that saw the S&P 500 notch its fourth straight record close. The technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite also ended the session at a record.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 4.21% from Thursday’s 4.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 21 cents to $78.83 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $31.10 to $2,349.10
