TSX Flops at Friday Open

Equities in Canada’s largest centre opened lower on Friday as data showing a surge in U.S. consumer prices stoked fears that the Federal Reserve would continue on its aggressive policy tightening path to tame soaring inflation.

The S&P/TSX forked over 217.1 points, or 1.1%, to begin Friday at 20,346.79.

The Canadian dollar lost 0.48 cents to 78.23 cents U.S.

National Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Airboss of America with an outperform rating and a $38 price target.

Airboss shares dipped four cents to $18.02.

Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on D2L Inc to $15.00 from $20.00. D2L shares gained seven cents, or 1%, to $7.07.

CIBC cut the target price on Saputo to $35.00 from $36.00. Saputo shares jumped 38 cents, or 1.5%, to $26.64.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported the economy created 40,000 jobs in May, bringing the unemployment rate down to 5.1%.

The number of Canadians who own cryptoassets is growing rapidly and efforts to regulate the sector need to start keeping pace, a senior Bank of Canada official said, noting many people may not understand the risk of investing in products like bitcoin.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 11.37 points, or 1.6%, to 700.51.

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative in the first hour, with information technology fading 2.1%, health-care less well 1.8%, and industrials weaker 1.7%.

The two gainers were gold, up 0.2%, and energy, scraping by breakeven by 0.04%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks dropped on Friday morning after a highly anticipated inflation report showed a faster-than-expected rise in prices.

The Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 809.38 points, or 2.5%, to 31,464.53.

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The S&P 500 handed back 111.85 points, or 2.8%, to 3,905.97.

The NASDAQ Composite plunged 389.12 points, or 3.3%, to 11,365.11.

The selloff was broad, with nearly every member of the 30-stock Dow in the red. Apple dropped 2.9%, while Microsoft and Dow, Inc. fell more than 3%.

The drop for stocks means that Wall Street is headed for yet another losing week. Entering Friday, the Dow was lower by 1.9%, on track for its 10th down week in the past 11. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite were both off by more than 2%, on pace for their ninth losing week in 10.

Tech stocks were under pressure as investors grappled with higher rates and a potential recession. Shares of Netflix dropped nearly 5% following a downgrade from Goldman Sachs. Chip giant Nvidia slid 4%.

Banks and cyclical stocks also moved lower, possibly reflecting recession fears. Shares of Wells Fargo shed 4%. Boeing dropped 3.6%.

The May consumer price index report came in at its highest level since 1981, putting pressure on the stock market. The report showed prices rising 8.6% year over year, and 6% when excluding food and energy prices. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting year over year increases of 8.3% for the main index and 5.9% for the core index.

The hot inflation flamed concerns about a potential recession for the U.S. economy. Elsewhere, the preliminary June reading for the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index came in well below expectations, hitting a record low.

Treasury prices sagged, raising yields to 3.11% from Thursday’s 3.05%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices dropped 20 cents to $121.31 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices forked over $16.30 to $1,836.50 U.S. an ounce.