S&P/TSX composite edges down at market close, U.S. stock markets also drop
Global News
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 162.67 points at 19,418.23.
Canada’s main stock index dropped on Friday as the price of oil stayed below US$70 a barrel and losses in the base metal and battery metal stocks weighed on the Toronto market.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 162.67 points at 19,418.23.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 219.28 points at 33,727.43. The S&P 500 index was down 33.56 points at 4,348.33, while the Nasdaq composite was down 138.09 points at 13,492.52.
Allan Small, senior investment adviser at iA Private Wealth, said the tone of the markets shifted earlier this month after U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said two more rate hikes south of the border are expected.
“That really turned the markets from being more of a positive trend to obviously a negative trend and this looks like the first negative week in many, especially for the NASDAQ. So I think what you’re seeing is the markets starting to factor in possibly another 50 basis points of interest rate hikes,” he said.
“Right now, the markets are being set back by this threat of higher interest rates to come.”
He said that doesn’t bode well for the TSX in particular, which is very commodities-driven.
“The fear for the TSX is a lot of energy, a lot of commodities, a lot of materials,” said Small.
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Oil prices leaped, and stock markets slumped worldwide following military strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran, including Wall Street and the TSX.
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