By Ketki Saxena
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was at 18,930.48 points, down 0.39% in the day’ trading. The Canadian benchmark closed below 19,000 for the first time since April 2021, and confirmed its biggest weekly loss since March 2020 and the pandemic-driven rout.
Global equities tanked yesterday following a 75 basis point hike from the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank, which worsened fears of a sharp economic contraction.
The 75 bps hike from the Fed also increases the likelihood of a similar move from the Bank of Canada, bringing its rate to 2.25%, a level not seen since before the financial crisis in 2009.
Today’s domestic producer prices and raw materials prices data, which accelerated again in May indicating rising inflationary pressures on Canadian manufacturers, also reinforce the case for an outsized hike from the Canadian central bank on the 13th of July.
The TSX retraced gains from earlier this morning, unable to recover from yesterday’s bruising as the commodity heavy index was weighed by heavy losses in energy as crude tumbled over 7% today to below $110/barrel. For the week, crude is down around 9%, also fuelled by worries of a global slowdown.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Lightspeed Commerce (TSX:LSPD) Inc (TSX:LSPD), which rose 7.05% or 1.82 points to trade at 27.62 at the close. Aurora Cannabis Inc (TSX:ACB) (TSX:ACB) added 6.88% or 0.11 points to end at 1.71 and Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLDP) Inc (TSX:BLDP) was up 6.34% or 0.48 points to 8.05 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Vermilion Energy (TSX:VET) Inc . (TSX:VET), which lost 8.59% or 2.29 points to trade at 24.36 in late trade. Enerplus (TSX:ERF) Corporation (TSX:ERF) declined 7.97% or 1.59 points to end at 18.35 and Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd (TSX:TVE) (TSX:TVE) shed 7.60% or 0.40 points to 4.86.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.13%, and below the 30,000 level for the first time since January 2020.
The S&P 500 closed up 0.22%, but had its worst day since September 2020, pushing further into bear market territory.
The tech focused Nasdaq closed 1.43% higher but also remained in a bear market, represented by a 20% or greater decline from an index’s all time closing high.
All three U.S. benchmarks index posted a weekly loss.
In Bonds and Currencies
The US Dollar Index was up 0.97% at 104.42 as rising risk aversion buoyed demand for the safe-haven greenback, while the USD/CAD pair was +0.53% higher at C$ 1.3017 to a USD as crude further weighed on the loonie.
Canadian yields continued to surge, with the 5 year +0.059 points higher at 3.365%, and the 10 year +0.063 points higher at 3.438%.
Yields on the U.S. 10 year pulled back 0.070 points but remained high at 3.235%.