TSX Sinks Thursday

Stocks in Toronto had difficulty hanging onto the gains accumulated this week, amid unease about the future of the economy on both sides of the border.

The TSX lost 50.14 points to close the Thursday session at 20,630.69.

The Canadian dollar eased back 0.3 cents to 74.19 cents U.S.

Energy held down progress of the markets Thursday, with Tamarack Valley sliding 18 cents, or 4.5%, to $3.83, while Baytex Energy sank 22 cents, or 4.2%, to $5.05.

Tech stocks fell, as Bitfarms sank 13 cents, or 8.3%, to $1.43, while HUT 8 Mining shed 21 cents, or 8.2%, to $2.34.

In materials, Methanex faltered $2.98, or 4.7%, to $60.51, while Lithium Americas Corporation moved downward $1.09, or 4%, to $25.97.

Gold tried to even things out, with Torex Gold climbing 36 cents, or 1.6%, to $22.43, while Osisko Gold Royalties captured 27 cents, or 1.3%, to $21.90.

Industrials improved, too, as Stantec shot higher $1.78, or 2.2%, to $81.36, while Thomson Reuters jumped $2.10, or 1.2%, to $177.21.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange ditched 10.67 points, or 1.7% to 615.49.

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative with energy drying 1.5%, while information technology fell 0.6%, and materials lost 0.4%.

The two gainers proved to be gold, up 0.3%, and industrials, ahead 0.2%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks fell on Thursday, as Wall Street reacted to a mixed bag of corporate earnings, including disappointing results from Tesla. Investors also assessed fresh data that signaled a contracting economy.

The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 110.39 points to 33,786.62.

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The S&P 500 flopped 24.73 points to 4,129.79.

The NASDAQ dropped 97.67 points to close the day at 12,059.56.

The mounting concern over downward pressure on profit margins hurt Tesla shares as the electric vehicle maker cut prices on some of its cars during the recent quarterly period. The company posted a more than 20% decline in net income from a year ago after the bell Wednesday. Shares fell more than 10%.

Tesla weighed on the tech-heavy index and the broader sector, with Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple all trading lower. Seagate Technology shares lost more than 9% after missing estimates and issuing disappointing guidance, citing weak demand.

Energy marked another area of market weakness as oil prices declined about 2%. Some laggards included APA, Marathon Oil and ConocoPhillips.

Disappointing results from both AT&T and American Express did little to alleviate some of the market concern. The payments company, offering another look at the health of the U.S. consumer, lost about 2% as earnings per share fell short of estimates. AT&T fell 10% on slowing subscriber growth fears.

So far this earnings season, about 16% of companies in the S&P 500 have reported results, with about 76% beating EPS expectations, according to FactSet data as of Thursday. Many on Wall Street this season are bracing for an earnings decline. A general lack of profit forecasts, however, has begun to concern some investors.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury vaulted, lowering yields to 3.54% from Wednesday’s 3.60%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices ditched $1.87 to $77.29 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices gained $6.60 to $2,013.90 U.S. an ounce.