Equities in Toronto took a whacking by the final bell on Thursday, as gaining dissolved in mining and consumer stocks.
The TSX Composite skidded 36.52 points, to end Thursday at 20,705.27
The Canadian dollar took on 0.25 cents to 79.01 cents U.S.
Gold issues put the biggest strain on the market, with Eldorado Gold losing 21 cents, or 1.9%, to $10.75, while B2Gold handed over nine cents, or 1.9%, to $4.73.
In consumer staples, which also got bruised, Empire Company suffered $1.43, or 3.6%, to $38.80, while SunOpta fell 42 cents, or 3.5%, to $11.76.
Industrials also took their lumps, with Canadian Pacific Railway down $3.43, or 3.8%, to $87.99, while New Flyer Industries was battered 95 cents or 3.1%, to $29.73.
Tech stocks tried to leaven things, with Lightspeed surging $9.16, or 6.2%, to $156.97, while BlackBerry gained 40 cents, or 3%, to $13.61.
In the energy sector, Tourmaline Oil added 67 cents, or 1.8%, to $37.42, while Suncor strengthened 29 cents, or 1.3%, to $23.42.
Financials also prospered, with Goeasy triumphing $9.47, or 4.7%, to $211.87, while ECN Capital leaped 16 cents, or 1.6%, to $10.46.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 2.69 points to 905.20.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups suffered losses on the day, gold dulled in price 1.4%, consumer staples were down 1.1%, and industrials were weaker by 1%.
The three gainers proved to be information technology, moving 1.1%, energy, better by 0.4%, and financials, eking up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 150 points on Thursday, the 30-stock average’s fourth day of losses.
The blue-chip index sank 151.69 points to 34,879.38, dragged down by Amgen and Merck.
The S&P 500 docked 20.79 points to 4,493.28
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 38.38 points, to 15,248.25.
All three major averages are headed for losses this week.
Despite recent losses, the major benchmarks are still up big for the year and within striking distances of their all-time highs. The S&P 500, up roughly 20% in 2021, is about 1.2% from its all-time high. The Dow, up 14% this year, is about 2% from a record.
Several airlines on Thursday lowered their forecasts because of the resurgence in COVID. United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines each gave cautious comments; however, their stocks remained in the green.
Boston Beer fell 3.8% after pulling its earnings guidance amid slowing growth in its hard seltzer brand.
Meme-favorite GameStop closed in the green after dropping as much as 10.5%. The video-game retailer posted a narrower loss compared with the year prior but did not provide an outlook or grander turnaround plans.
Moderna shares rose more than 7.8% after the drug maker said it’s developing a single dose vaccine that combines boosters against Covid and the flu.
Shares of athletic retailer Lululemon surged 10.5% and furniture retailer RH rose 7.8% on the back of better-than-expected earnings.
Lululemon also offered a stronger-than-forecast outlook for the third quarter and the year.
Investors remained cautious as they try to discern what’s next to happen with the delta variant, the economic reopening and the Federal Reserve.
The Fed meets on Sep. 21-22 and investors are worried the central bank will indicate a move to slow down its monthly $120 billion in bond purchases, which have kept rates low and boosted the recovery from the pandemic.
Also helping sentiment was a better-than-expected weekly reading on jobless claims. Initial jobless claims came in 310,000, which was below expectations of 335,000 claims. This marked another fresh low for the pandemic era.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained ground, lowering yields to 1.30% from Wednesday’s 1.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices withered $1.32 to $67.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged $3.90 to $1,797.40 U.S. an ounce.
