Equities in Canada’s largest market dropped Thursday, as health-care stocks tumbled and investors digested the latest GDP numbers.
The S&P/TSX lost 350.06 points to trade at 18,728.58.
Gross domestic product rose 0.3% month-over-month in April Statistics Canada said Thursday. The April gain matched market expectations provided by TD Securities. On a one-year basis, GDP rose 5.0%. 13 of 20 industrial sectors expanded.
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.14 cents to 77.54 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 8.97 points, or 2.9%, to 617.37.
All of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground Thursday, with health-care down 4.90%, Consumer Discretionary off 1.77% and Financial stocks bowing 1.76%.
IT’S WALLSTREET
Stocks in the U.S. fell sharply on Thursday, following a mixed trading day. The S&P 500 is on track to finish its worst first half in decades.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 509 points, or 1.6%. The S&P 500 skidded 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.4%.
Home retail stocks dragged the market lower as high-end furniture chain RH saw shares drop about 9%, after it issued a profit warning for the full year. Wayfair and Williams-Sonoma were also lower by 6% and 7%, respectively.
The core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, rose 4.7% in May, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
The Chicago PMI, which tracks business activity in the region, came in at 56, below estimates of 58.3.
Weekly initial jobless claims inched lower, falling 2,000 to 231,000 in the week ended June 25.
The benchmark 10-year note yields fell to 3.057%.
Oil prices fell in volatile trading on Thursday as concerns over global supply appeared to outweigh a build in U.S. fuel product inventories. Brent crude futures for September, were down 96 cents, or 0.9%, at $111.49 a barrel.
August gold futures were last up $6.40 at $1,823.90.