Stocks in Toronto finished off a rough week with a deeply negative reading.
The S&P/TSX index doffed 96.13 points to 16,694.27, a sharp dive of 205 points, or 1.2% on the week.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.14 cents at 75.51 cents U.S.
Among gold stocks, Kinross Gold slumbered 34 cents, or 5%, to $6.40, while Kirkland Lake Gold faded $2.69, or 4.3%, to $60.22.
In the health-care field, Canopy Growth tumbled $1.25, or 3.8%, to $31.59, while Aurora Cannabis dipped 20 cents, or 3.2%, to $6.12
Communications had a tough time of it, too, as Cineplex faced downward 85 cents, or 3.4%, to $24.25, while Rogers Communications dropped $1.53, or 2.3%, to $64.70.
Financials tried to shine a light, if a faint one, as Laurentian Bank added 24 cents, to$45.96, while Genworth MIC tacked on 31 cents to $52.68.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 5.25 points on the day, to 568.57, a weekly tumble of nearly 21 points, or 3.5%.
All but one of the 12 Toronto subgroups remained in the red till the closing bell, as gold dulled in price 2.5%, while health-care docked 2%, and communications shed 1.7%
Only financials showed some positive energy on the day, and only 0.02% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks finished the week lower after reports that the White House is considering limits on U.S. investment into China, aggravating the protracted trade dispute between the globe’s two largest economies.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell back 70.87 points to 26,820.25, for a drop on the week of 114.8 points, or 0.43%
The S&P 500 dipped 7.52 points to 2,961.79, a weekly retreat of 30 points, or just over 1%.
The NASDAQ Composite slid 91.03 points, or 1.1%, to 7,939.63, a collapse of 178 points, or 2.2%, over the last five sessions.
Shares of Alibaba plunged on the latest U.S.-China headlines, falling 5.8%. Other Chinese stocks like Baidu and JD.com also traded lower.
Trump administration officials are discussing ways to curb U.S. financial exposure in China, including a block of all American investment in the country, media outlets were informed. Though sources cautioned that the discussion was still in early stages, such an action could send shockwaves throughout financial markets and involve the billions of dollars in investments tied to major indexes.
Wells Fargo announced Friday that it has named Bank of New York Mellon Chairman and CEO Charles Scharf as its new chief executive officer. Scharf will assume his new role at the head of the nation’s fourth-largest bank on Oct. 21 and will represent the bank’s first permanent CEO since Tim Sloan resigned in March.
Wells Fargo’s stock rose 3.5% Friday morning following the announcement.
Shares of chipmaker Micron fell more than 11% on Friday, on track for its worst day since June 2015, after it reported first-quarter guidance that fell short of analyst expectations, dragging others in the semiconductor space lower in tandem.
The Boise, Idaho-based technology company also said its sales to Huawei “were down meaningfully” from anticipated levels prior to the Trump administration’s move to add the Chinese telecommunications giant to the U.S. Entity List. The White House’s decision effectively bars Huawei from doing business with American companies.
U.S. consumer spending slowed more than expected in August, according to a government report released Friday. Personal consumption expenditures, also known as household spending, edged up an adjusted 0.1% in August from July, when spending rose 0.5%.
The print represents consumer spending’s softest read since February and could suggest to policymakers that a critical driver of U.S. GDP growth is decelerating. Consumer spending accounts for more than 66% of total economic output in the United States.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury were slightly higher, lowering yields to 1.68%, from Thursday’s 1.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 55 cents to $55.86 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $12.20 to $1,503.00 U.S. an ounce.
