Stocks Stumble to Begin Thursday

The TSX Composite stumbled 301.45 points, or 1.5%, to begin Thursday’s session at 19,590.20.

The Canadian dollar faded 0.46 cents at 73.33 cents U.S.

Among single stocks to look out for, TC Energy said on Wednesday it was resuming operations in a section of its Keystone pipeline a week after a leak in rural Kansas triggered a shutdown.

Danish brewer Carlsberg said it had agreed to buy Canadian Waterloo Brewing for around $144 million in cash.

In things macroeconomic, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says housing starts the trend in housing starts was 267,365 units in November, up from 264,583 units in October.

The Canadian Real Estate Association reported national home sales declined by 3.3% month-over-month in November. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 38.9% below November 2021.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange swooned 7.21 points, or 1.3%, to 568.26.

All 12 subgroups lost ground in the first hour, with materials slouching 2.2%, while information technology and industrials weakening 1.9% each.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks fell sharply Thursday after new data showed retail sales fell more than expected in November, raising fears that the Federal Reserve’s relentless interest rate hikes are tipping the economy into a recession.

The Dow Jones Industrials collapsed 694.50 points to kick off Wednesday at 33,271.85.

The S&P 500 folded 89.15 points, or 2.2%, to 3,906.17.

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The NASDAQ Composite Index dropped 282.40 points, or 2.5%, to 10.888.49.

Only seven stocks were positive in the Nasdaq 100, including shares of Tesla which climbed more than 1% on Thursday after CEO Elon Musk sold a chunk of his stake in the company.

Shares of other companies T-Mobile, Moderna, Charter, JD.com, VeriSign and Pinduoduo were trading higher.

Investors absorbed a disappointing retail sales report that suggested inflation is taking a toll on consumers. Retail sales fell 0.6% in November, according to the Commerce Department. That was a bigger loss than the Dow Jones estimate of a 0.3% decline.

The central bank said it will continue hiking rates through 2023 and projected its fed funds rate to peak at a higher-than-expected 5.1%.

With Wednesday’s half a percentage point hike, the targeted range for rates is currently 4.25% to 4.5%, the highest in 15 years.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury were up slightly, lowering yields to 3.47% from Wednesday’s 3.48%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices docked 81 cents to $76.47 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices docked $30.20 to $1,788.50 U.S. an ounce.