Canada’s main stock endured its biggest weekly drop since the pandemic-driven market rout in March 2020, and things didn’t improve much on Friday.
The S&P/TSX lost 73.58 points to close Friday and the week at 18,930.48. Over the last five session, the red ink amounted to 1,344 points, or 6.63%.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.57 cents to 76.62 cents U.S.
Energy dragged things down Friday, with Vermilion Energy skidding $2.20, or 8.3%, to $24.46, while Birchcliff Energy subtracted 76 cents, or 7.5%, to $9.39.
Among utilities, Altagas handed over $1.09. or 4.1%, to $24.27, while TransAlta ditched 57 cents, or 4%, to $13.65.
In materials, Methanex cratered $1.86, or 3.5%, to $52.12, while MAG Silver parted with 47 cents, or 2.8%, to $16.48.
Health-care stocks tried to restore some dignity, with Aurora Cannabis gaining 11 cents, or 6.9%, to $1.71, while Tilray picked up 17 cents, or 4.2%, to $4.20.
Communications also starred, with TELUS Corporation triumphing $1.08, or 1.1%, to $28.70, and Shaw improving 68 cents, or 2%, to $34.81.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Canadian investors purchased a record $29.2 billion of foreign securities in April, after a $46.2 billion divestment in the first quarter of 2022.
At the same time, the agency says, foreign acquisitions of Canadian securities totaled $22.2 billion, led by investment in new bonds denominated in foreign currencies.
Elsewhere, StatsCan’s Industrial Product Price Index rose by 1.7% month over month in May and by 15.0% compared with May of last year.
The agency’s Raw Materials Price Index increased 2.5% on a monthly basis in May, posting a 37.4% year-over-year increase.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange squeezed higher 0.83 points on the day to 640.38, but on the week, the loss was 64 points, or 9.13%.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups moved higher, led by health-care, ahead 2.6%, while information technology jumping 2.3%, and communications surging 2%.
The four laggards were weighed most by energy, tumbling 5%, while utilities let go of 0.9%, and materials weakened 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks seesawed on Friday as Wall Street attempted to find its footing after a brutal week of selling.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost 41.99 points to 29,885.08.
The Dow briefly bounced above the 30,000 mark after falling below that level on Thursday for the first time since January 2021. The 30-stock average is down 5% for the week, on track for its 11th negative week in 12.
The S&P 500 regained 7.68 points to 3,674.45.
The S&P 500 was down 6% headed for its worst weekly performance since March 2020. All 11 of its sectors are at least 15% below their recent highs.
The NASDAQ Composite recovered 152.25 points, or 1.4%, to 10,798.35. Still, the tech-heavy NASDAQ is down about 5% for the week.
Beaten-up tech shares staged a rally. Investors have heavily sold off the growth sector as rates rise. Shares of Tesla, Amazon and Netflix rose nearly 3%.
Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft added 2%. Travel stocks Airbnb, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line also rebounded, jumping 7% each.
The Dow moved higher on Friday, buoyed by a 5% gain from American Express. Boeing and Salesforce rose more than 3% each.
Consumer discretionary, communication services and information technology jumped more than 1% but are off more than 30% from their 52-week highs. Energy continued its retreat, falling 5%.
The moves come as investors are increasingly worried about a potential economic slowdown. Several key pieces of economic data fell short of forecasts this week, ranging from May retail sales to housing starts.
Additionally, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by the most since 1994.
Market volatility could have been heightened Friday thanks to “quadruple witching.” This refers to the simultaneous expiration of stock index futures, single-stock futures, stock options and stock index options.
This event happens once a quarter and typically leads to a surge in trading volume, making for choppy trading action as traders close out positions.
Treasury prices eked higher, lowering yields to 3.23% from Thursday’s 3.25%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices staggered $7.47 to $110.12 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faltered $9.80 to $1,840.10 U.S. an ounce.