Skip to main content

Canada’s main stock index fell in late-morning trading amid losses in the health-care sector, which includes the big marijuana companies, and the financial sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 13.10 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 14,128.67.

It was led lower by the health care sector, which includes marijuana stocks, as well as tech shares and financials.

Aphria was off 4.4 per cent and Aurora was down 4 per cent. Bank of Nova Scotia was off 1.2 per cent, Suncor Energy fell 0.9 per cent, and TD bank was off 0.6 per cent.

Canada’s economy expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in October, but evidence of economic momentum heading into the end of the year may not be enough to shift the Bank of Canada from the sidelines due to the recent slump in oil prices.

Canada’s gross domestic product rose 0.3 per cent in October from September, pushed higher by strength in manufacturing, finance and insurance, Statistics Canada data indicated on Friday.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had predicted monthly GDP would increase by 0.2 per cent.

The Canadian dollar traded for 73.78 cents US – below the key 74-cent level – compared with an average of 74.10 cents on Thursday.

Wall Street’s three main indexes gave up most of their earlier gains in volatile trading on Friday that traders blamed on the expiration of stock futures and options, with only the defensive sectors of the market staying consistently higher, highlighting concerns of slowing growth.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 66.52 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 22,926.12. The S&P 500 index edged up 0.77 of a point, or 0.03 per cent, at 2468.38, while the Nasdaq composite was down 66.52 points or 1 per cent at 6,460.92.

The biggest boost to the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 came from Nike Inc., which jumped 7.3 per cent after the company’s quarterly results beat Wall Street estimates on strength in North America.

All 11 S&P sectors were higher, with the biggest gainers being the defensive consumer staples, utilities and real estate indexes.

The smallest gains were in technology, industrials and the communication services index, which houses high-growth stocks such as Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc.

However, markets are expected to be volatile on account of “quadruple witching,” as investors unwind interests in futures and options contracts prior to expiration.

“We have a bit of a bounce, but it’s options expiration so I don’t expect the market to regain any substantial strength from the recent selloff. So volatility is probably going to be accompanying the movements in the market today,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

The lag in growth names comes amid mounting concerns of slowing global growth, which were exacerbated earlier this week when the Federal Reserve said it would largely stick to its plan to keep raising interest rates.

Adding to the nerves was the turmoil in Washington, with chances of the government being shut down unless a funding deal is reached by midnight and as U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis abruptly resigned after falling out with Trump over his foreign policies.

“The turmoil in the White House, the possibility of a government shutdown and of course the ongoing trade problem are rattling investors,” Cardillo said.

“Since now we are in a bear market, any rallies are not sustainable until we have capitulation, and so far we haven’t had that.”

The three main Wall Street indexes are already in correction territory, having fallen more than 10 per cent from their record closing highs, and are closing in on bear market territory, when a security closes 20 per cent below a recent high.

While the Nasdaq came within a whisker of bear market territory on Thursday, other segments of the market, including the Russell 2000 small-cap benchmark and the Dow Jones Transport Average are already in bear market territory.

Economic data was also mixed, with data showing consumer spending increased solidly in November and an unexpected fall in orders for key U.S.-made capital goods.

While U.S. Commerce Department data showed the economy was on track to hit the Trump administration’s 3 per cent target this year, momentum appears to have moderated early in this quarter.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe