Equities in Canada’s largest centre were picking themselves up from a hard landing Thursday, as tech and health-care stocks provided much of the downward weight.
The TSX slid 234.89 points to close Thursday at 29,868.59.
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.06 cents to 70.84 cents U.S.
On the corporate front, Canadian Natural Resources posted a fall in third-quarter profit, as weaker commodity prices weighed on the results. Natural Resources fell 57 cents, or 1.3% in the early afternoon to $44.44.
Among other corporate news, Bombardier shares fell 67 cents to $197.42 despite topping Wall Street's third-quarter revenue forecasts, while Canada Goose slumped $2.76, or 13.7%, to $17.20. on a revenue miss. TC Energy edged up 17 cents to $71.27, after disappointing profit.
TransAlta fell $2.67, or 11.2%. to the bottom of the S&P/TSX composite index at $21.13, after the power generation firm reported a decreased revenue in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Equinox Gold jumped $1.16, or 7.8% to the top of the index at $16.10, after BMO raised the target price on the stock to $20.00 from $18.00
Economically speaking, the IVEY School of Business reported its Purchasing Managers Index Thursday. The index slumbered to 52.4 in October from 59.8 in September but remained above the 52 reading for October 2024.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange plummeted 25 points, or 2.8%, to 875.89.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups collapsed, information technology dawdling 3.8%, health-care ailing 3.2%, and industrials, off 2%.
The five gainers were led by telecoms, up 0.8%, while energy and materials were each up 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks retreated on Thursday as companies that have benefited from the artificial intelligence trade came under pressure yet again amid concern about their eye-watering valuations.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 398.70 points to 46,912.30.
The S&P 500 backpedaled 75.97 points, or 1.1%, to close the session at 6,720.32.
The NASDAQ plunged 445.81 points, or 1.9%, to 23,053.99.
The biggest downside impact came from Nvidia, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices.
AI stocks have moved unevenly since the start of November, and that continued in Thursday’s session. Qualcomm shed 3% after the chipmaker posted better-than-expected quarterly results but said it may lose future business with Apple.
AMD, a standout on Wednesday, lost 6%, while Palantir and Oracle declined 6% and 2%, respectively. Shares of AI darling Nvidia and fellow “Magnificent Seven” name Meta Platforms sank as well.
Equities linked to the AI space rebounded on Wednesday from valuation concerns that swirled earlier this week, serving as a potential boon for the major indexes.
Thursday’s pullback was exacerbated by concerns about the state of the labor market, as October saw a significant number of layoff announcements. Job cuts for the month totaled 153,074, marking an increase of 183% from September and 175% from the year-ago period, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Investors Thursday were also looking at Washington, after the Supreme Court heard arguments for and against the Trump administration’s tariff policy. Questioning by Supreme Court justices Wednesday, who expressed some skepticism about the trade taxes’ legality, led many investors to expect a ruling against the Trump administration.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained Thursday, weighing yields to 4.09% from Wednesday’s 4.16%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped eight cents to $59.52 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $4.70 to $3,988.20 U.S. an ounce.
