Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada raised its overnight lending rate as expected but signaled a pause in its hiking cycle and added economic growth would stall through the middle of the year.
The TSX came off its lows of the morning, but still trailed Tuesday’s close by 100.15 points to move into Wednesday’s lunch hour at 20,529.40.
The Canadian dollar ditched 0.27 cents at 74.50 cents U.S.
Industrials tumbled, with Canadian National Railway down $7.27, or 4.4%, to $158.64, after the company forecast lower 2023 earnings.
Shopify was a bright spot, rising $5.23, or 9.2%, to $62.32, after the e-commerce company updated its pricing plan.
The BoC hiked its benchmark overnight interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%, its highest level in 15 years, and said it would likely pause to measure the cumulative effect of previous increases.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange erased 3.86 points to 619.17.
The 12 subgroups were evenly divided by noon, with industrials down 1.9%, energy sputtering 1.3%, and health-care stocks off 0.8%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by gold, building 1.1%, information technology ahead 0.9%, and materials, better by 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks sold off Wednesday after the latest batch of corporate earnings intensified concerns that some of the largest U.S. companies are struggling as rates rise and recession fears grow.
The Dow Jones Industrials dived 201.84 points to 33,532.12.
The S&P 500 slid 33.8 points to 3,983.15.
The NASDAQ Composite stumbled 132.06 points, or 1.2%, to 11,202.22.
Technology stocks took the bulk of the heat after Microsoft dropped on lackluster guidance. Alphabet, Nvidia and Tesla were last down more than 3% each. Boeing fell 3% following a top-and bottom-line miss.
Investors bought stocks heading into the period anticipating better-than-expected prints as companies reset and lowered expectations. But reports so far across sectors have mostly dashed those hopes as many companies share dismal outlooks, he said.
Investors are bracing for more high-profile corporate earnings this week as fears of a recession persist, with Tesla and IBM among the companies slated to post numbers after the bell. So far, more than 19% of S&P 500 companies have reported fourth-quarter earnings, with 68% of them posting stronger-than-expected results.
Wednesday’s moves followed a three-day winning streak for the blue-chip Dow. All three major averages are trading flat, or slightly higher, for the week.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged hiking yields to 3.47% from Tuesday’s 3.46%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained back 74 cents to $80.87 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $2.70 to $1,938.10 U.S. an ounce.
