Canada's main stock index opened lower on Friday, with the technology and materials sectors leading declines, as results from big U.S. technology companies fanned concerns about growing AI costs, while higher oil prices further dented sentiment.
The TSX shed 555.45 points, or 1.5%, to open Friday at 35,693.57. That caused the index to plunge 94 points, or 0.26%, on a weekly basis
The Canadian dollar poked up 0.05 cents at 71.54 cents U.S.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported gross domestic product essentially unchanged in August, for a second consecutive month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regressed 22.03 points, or 2.7%, to 804.61. On the week so far, the index has lost 16 points, or 2%.
Eight of the 12 subgroups were lower, weighed most by gold, plunging 5.3%, materials, down 4.8%, and information technology, off 2.6%.
The four gainers were buoyed by telecoms, up 1.7%, energy, rumbling 1%, and consumer staples, ahead 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite tumbled on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed as traders moved out of key stocks related to artificial intelligence and into more defensive areas of the market.
The 30-stock index skidded 269.91 points to 52,072.65.
The S&P 500 ditched 97.78 points, or 1.3%, to 7,622.61.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ tumbled 538.58 points, or 1.5%, to 25,681.26.
Amazon shares lost 2% after the company reported earnings and revenue for the third quarter that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. The company also posted negative free cash flow of $42.4 billion and maintained its 2026 capital expenditures forecast for $220 billion.
Intel, meanwhile, slide 28% after issuing a weak outlook for the current quarter, pointing to a slowdown in PCs. Revenue in the company’s client computing and physical artificial intelligence group declined 5% from the year-ago quarter to $8.1 billion.
Sandisk was also down 10%, even as its fiscal first quarter results beat estimates. The data storage company announced an eight-for-one forward stock split.
Chipmakers more broadly were under pressure as well. Advanced Micro Devices dropped 10%, while others such as Nvidia and Broadcom fell 3% and 5%, respectively.
As investors rotated out of tech, defensive areas such as consumer staples and healthcare saw gains. Procter & Gamble, Walmart and Coca-Cola each rose nearly 2%, supporting Dow futures. Fellow Dow members Merck and Amgen added around 1%.
Friday marks the final trading day in October. The month has been rocky for the AI trade, with investors paying close attention to companies’ spending around the build-out. Hyperscalers Alphabet and Microsoft haven’t lifted their capital expenditures forecasts.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury inched forward, lowering yields to 4.95% from Thursday’s 4.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $2.38 to $104.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $119.80 to $3,911.60 U.S. an ounce.
