Downward Markets Finish Thursday as They Started

It was a generally gloomy close to markets throughout North America Thursday, as jitters over the direction of inflation took over investors.

The TSX Composite stumbled 221.44 points, or 1.1%, to end a disastrous Thursday at 19,349.66.

The Canadian dollar subsided 0.10 cents at 73.3 cents U.S.

Health-care issues were hit the hardest, with Bausch Health Companies plummeting 61 cents, or 6.5%, to $8.80, while Canopy Growth lost 19 cents, or 5.8%, to $3.09.

In the energy sector, Precision Drilling shed $3.84, or 3.6%, to $102.26, while Enerplus staggered 83 cents, or 3.5%, to $22.92.

Tech issues were also giving way, with BlackBerry bruised 43 cents, or 8.4%, to $4.67, while Converge Technology Solutions lower by 28 cents, or 6%, to $4.39.

On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada said its Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours was little changed in October (-5,400), following an increase of 96,400 (+0.5%) in September.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange pointed downward 3.5 points to 567.26.

All 12 subgroups were losers by the close Thursday, with health-care subsiding 2.9%, while energy and information technology each fell 2.1%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks fell Thursday as a year-end selloff returned to Wall Street following a brief respite this week.

The Dow Jones Industrials faltered 348.99 points, or 1.1%, to finish Thursday at 33.027.49

The S&P 500 jettisoned 56.05 points, or 1.5% at 3,822.39.

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The NASDAQ Composite Index let go of 233.25 points, or 2.2%, to 10,476.12.

This decline follows a 526-point rally in the Dow on Wednesday after better-than-expected earnings from Nike and FedEx, as well as strong consumer sentiment data for December. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite each surged 1.5% Wednesday.

However, the selling returned Thursday as investors remained concerned that further monetary tightening from central banks around the world will push the economy into a recession. Tech shares led the losses, with semiconductor companies such as Lam Research plunged 10% and Advanced Micro Devices fell 7%

Tesla shares dropped more than 8% after the automaker began to offer $7,500 discounts on some of its vehicles, adding to investor concerns of slowing demand at the company.

CarMax shares dropped more than 5% after the used car retailer missed profit and revenue expectations. Micron Technology shares slipped nearly 5% on disappointing quarterly results, dragging down other chip stocks. One-time meme stock darling AMC dropped 13% after announcing a capital raise.

So far in December, the Dow is down 5.6%, while the S&P 500 has given back 7.5%, and the NASDAQ tumbled 9.7%. All three major averages are slated to break a three-year win streak and post their worst yearly performance since 2008.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost slightly, raising yields to 3.68% from Wednesday’s 3.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices dipped 16 cents to $78.13 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices staggered $25.40 to $1,804.90 U.S. an ounce.