The woes continued for markets throughout North America Monday, as stocks in Canada shed early strength and finished solidly in the red.
The TSX Composite stumbled 159.79 points to conclude Monday trading at 21,740.20.
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.13 cents at 72.55 cents U.S.
Energy proved the biggest anchor on the market, with Athabasca Oil down 22 cents, or 4.1%, to $5.31, while Advantage Oil slumped 35 cents, or 3.3%, to $10.14.
In real-estate issues, Granite REIT units fell $2.17, or 2.9%, to $71.84, while Colliers fell $4.33, or 2.9%, to $151.49.
In industrial stocks, Ballard Power collapsed 22 cents, or 5.4%, to $3.85, while Bombardier fell $1.65, or 2.8%, to $56.95.
Only consumer staples braved the storm, with Loblaw surging $2.61, or 1.8%, to $149.20, while Maple Leaf Foods up 41 cents, or 1.8%, to $23.10.
On the economic slate, the Canadian Real Estate Association issued its report for March. National home sales edged up 0.5% month-over-month in March. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 1.7% above March 2023.
Manufacturing sales increased 0.7% in February, led by the petroleum and coal product subsector as well as the electrical equipment, appliance and component subsector. The chemical subsector posted the largest decline.
Wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) were essentially unchanged (+0.0%), at $82.2 billion in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 11.02 points, or 1.9%, to 576.69.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups faltered by the close, with energy failing 1.8%, real-estate off 1.4%, and industrials sliding 1.2%.
The lone gainers were consumer staples, up 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks retreated on Monday as rising yields overshadowed strong Goldman Sachs earnings, hot retail sales data and hopes that the conflict in the Middle East will not escalate further.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 248.13 points to close Monday at 37,735.11. Monday’s losses pulled the blue-chip average near its 2024 flatline, a stunning turn after trading close to the 40,000 level just weeks prior.
The S&P 500 index fell back 61.59 points, or 1.2%, to 5,061.82.
The NASDAQ dwindled 290.08 points, or 1.8%, to 15,885.02.
The Dow was led down by Salesforce, which dropped more than 7% on reports that the software company was in talks to acquire data management firm Informatica. On the other hand, fellow Dow member Goldman Sachs popped about 3% after beating Wall Street expectations on both lines in the first quarter.
Wall Street also got a boost from fresh economic data. Retail sales increased 0.7% for the month of March, providing the latest indication that consumption remains strong in spite of inflationary pressures. That pace was higher than the 0.3% consensus forecast of economists polled by Dow Jones.
Monday’s action also comes of the heels of a tough week on Wall Street, as lingering inflation concerns and a poor start to the new corporate earnings season weighed on traders. Both the Dow and S&P 500 saw their worst weekly performances since 2023.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury tumbled, raising yields to 4.62% from Friday’s 4.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices ducked nine cents to $85,57 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices leaped $28.60 to $2,402.70 U.S. an ounce.
