The TSX has been in the negative territory as expected and widened early losses to 51 points at midday, reflecting huge declines in the energy and mining groups that were caused by falling commodity prices.
Prices for gold and crude oil fell on Thursday, suffering a blow from a firmer U.S. dollar. The greenback benefited from positive U.S. jobless claims and retail sales data, which also drew speculations that the U.S. Fed is more likely to push through with the September rate hike. Media reports said jobless claims in the U.S. increased last week but remained in line with expectations, which is a sign of a firming labor market. On the other hand, retail sales surged in May on increased purchases of automobiles and other goods.
The metals and mining sector lodged the biggest loss, 2.45%, and was followed by the energy producers, which were down 1.12%. These cancelled out modest gains in healthcare and industrials of 0.44% and 0.26%, respectively.
Total volume traded so far stood at 127.6 million shares. Carpathian Gold (CPN.TO), which surged 33% recently on news that it has received the final permit for its RDM project, was the most heavily traded stock.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
