Stocks Shed Strength After BoC Hikes Rates

Equities in Toronto edged lower at the open on Wednesday following the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision.

The TSX Composite faded 20.77 points to begin Wednesday at 19,969.40.

The Canadian dollar advanced 0.23 cents to 73.49 cents U.S.

On the economic slate, the Bank of Canada today increased its target for the overnight rate to 4.25%, with the Bank Rate at 4.5% and the deposit rate at 4.25%.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.28 points to 585.53

The 12 subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, with gold leaping 1.5%, materials up 0.7%, and real-estate better by 0.4%.

The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 1.9%, information technology, sinking 0.8%, and utilities, off 0.3%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks moved between gains and losses Wednesday as traders weighed the possibility of a recession, and the likelihood of a longer-than-expected hiking cycle from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrials captured 49.77 points to 33,646.11.

The S&P 500 settled 1.25 points to 3,940.01.

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The NASDAQ fell 65.12 points to 10.949.77.

Stocks are headed for weekly losses, with the Dow down 2.6%. The S&P is off 3.5%, and the NASDAQ has dipped 4.5%.

Salesforce, Apple and Alphabet dipped about 1% each, while Tesla dropped roughly 3% as longtime bear Toni Sacconaghi said the company needs to lower prices to deal with falling demand.

Investors have been losing hope that the Fed will be able to engineer a so-called soft landing that successfully tamps down inflation through higher rates and also avoids a recession. Instead, concerns are swirling around the state of the economy and the likelihood of a downturn in 2023.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury hiked, lowering yields to 3.46% from Tuesday’s 3.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices improved 27 cents to $74.52 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices brightened $14.60 to $1,797.00 U.S. an ounce.