Equities in Toronto opened lower on Thursday as losses in metal prices pulled down mining shares, while investors assessed U.S. economic data to gauge Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.
The TSX Composite Index weakened 130.91 points to open Thursday to 22,508.16.
The Canadian dollar shed 0.08 at 72.32 cents U.S.
In corporate news, bitcoin miner Bitfarms said it has adopted a second 'poison pill' after a Canadian tribunal ceased the earlier one adopted to prevent a potential hostile takeover attempt by rival Riot Platforms. Bitfarms shares dropped two cents to $3.59.
On the economic schedule today, Statistics Canada reported the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—increased by 41,000 (+0.2%) in May.
The central bank trimmed its key policy rate by 25 basis points, in line with market expectations, and indicated a possibility of more cuts if inflation continues to ease in line with forecasts.
Traders currently see a 62.2% chance of a cut in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange cratered 11.85 points, or 2.1%, to 565.07.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the session, with gold down 3%, materials lower by 2.3%, and consumer staples off 0.9%
The four gainers were led by real-estate, improving 1.1%, while communications and health-care rallied 0.7% each.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite dropped for a second day Thursday as Wall Street continued its rotation out of technology stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 175.76 points to 40,029.63.
The S&P 500 index subtracted 2.99 points to 5,424.14.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ lost another 86.89 points to 17,253.91.
Ford Motor shares tumbled 16% after the company’s second-quarter earnings came in much lower than analysts expected. Chipotle slipped 3% despite topping earnings and revenue expectations, while ServiceNow popped 11% on stronger-than-expected earnings.
Investors also assessed a second-quarter GDP report that showed the economy grow 2.8%, and much more than expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had anticipated growth of 2.1%.
Wednesday’s trading session saw intense declines for the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ, driven by disappointing quarterly reports from Alphabet and Tesla. Both the broad-market index and the tech-heavy benchmark posted their worst session since 2022, while the Dow shed roughly 504 points.
Investors have come to view the recent declines as a sign of an overdue correction in an overbought market, which is now seeing a rotation away from megacap tech into small-cap stocks and more cyclical areas.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury popped, lowering yields to 4.21% from Wednesday’s 4.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved downward 40 cents at $77.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices scaled back $50.60 to $2,398.70
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