Canada's main ?stock index plummeted on Thursday as falling metal prices dragged materials shares, while a jump in oil prices boosted energy stocks but kept risk-taking in check as inflationary woes persisted.
The TSX lost 174.21 points to move into Thursday afternoon at 35,577.22
The Canadian dollar sank 0.19 cents to 70.74 cents.
In company news, communications and software firm BlackBerry is scheduled to report quarterly results on Thursday. BlackBerry fell 28 cents, or 2.4%, to $11.56.
Heavyweight financial stocks gave up earlier gains, with shares of banks TD Bank handing back 83 cens to $167.67, while Royal Bank of Canada dwindled $1.04 to $198.43.
Elsewhere, Kinross Gold shed $4.31, or 11.1%, to $34.60, after the miner lowered its 2026 and 2027 attributable production guidance.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada says the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer was up by 26,100 (+0.1%) in July, following three consecutive increases from March to June, totalling 124,200 (+0.7%).
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 171,900 (+0.9%) in July.
Retail sales decreased 0.7% to $73.7 billion in July. Sales were down in eight of nine subsectors, led by declines at general merchandise retailers.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange skidded 14.29 points, or 1.6%, to 910.44.
All but three of the 12 subgroups were lower, gold and materials each plunging 2.3%, health-care issues off 1.7%.
The three gainers were energy, up 2.2%, information technology, ahead 0.7%, and consumer staples, better 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Thursday as Treasury yields kept marching higher, with traders anticipating further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. A pullback in Oracle weighed on tech.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 292.94 points to 51,218.65
The S&P 500 index lost 34.88 points to 7,671.15.
The NASDAQ Composite let go of 209.17 points to 26.726.87
Oracle shares sank $7.27, or 5%, to $137.26, after Bloomberg News reported that the company was citing force majeure in order to protect itself from a data center project being built in New Mexico if it is delayed.
Darden Restaurants, the parent of Olive Garden and LongHorn, shed $3.13, or 1.5%, to $210.56, on the back of its fiscal first-quarter results.
MGM Resorts International shares tumbled $3.58, or 9.5%, to $34.26, after Barry Diller’s People withdrew its proposal to buy the casino giant.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped, raising yields to 5.15% from Wednesday’s 5.11%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $3.59 to $95.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices flopped $39.20 to $4,285.50 U.S. an ounce.
