A risk of inflation drove down Toronto stocks today, while a lack of growth hurt investing south of the border.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 46.85 points, or 0.56%, to 8350.46. Nine of the TSX’s 10 sub-indices finished the session lower. For the week, the benchmark index dropped 1.4%.
The telecoms sectors fell 1.3%, while health-care stocks were next in line with a 0.9%decline.
Tech bellwether Nortel Networks fell 26¢, or 4%, to $5.71, while software maker Open Text slipped $1.25, or 3.6%, to $33.30.
The heavily weighted financial services group dropped 0.82%.
Manulife Financial shares shed 95¢, or 1.8%, to $51.30, while shares of Bank of Nova Scotia dropped 37¢ or 1%, to finish at $35.58.
The only winner among the North American exchanges today was the junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index. It added 5.79 points, climbing to 1,561.64.
The Canadian dollar edged to US76.27¢ up from yesterday’s close of US75.49¢.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 23.38 points to finish at 10,139.78, according to the latest data. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 29.56 points, or 1.55% to 1,993.15. The broader S&P 500 fell 5.30 points, or 0.49%, to 1,101.39, concluding its fifth straight down week.
For the week, the Dow fell 0.72%. The S&P 500 dropped 1% and the Nasdaq lost 3.3%.
In Canada, investors were influenced adversely by June inflation data, which indicated that the Bank of Canada is likely to raise interest rates in September.
High gasoline prices kept Canada’s inflation rate at 2.5 per cent in June – the same as in May. However, the core rate, which excludes energy, edged up slightly to 1.7%, from 1.5% in May.
In the U.S., inflation appears to be less of a threat. Consumer prices rose a modest 0.3% in June, half the size of the previous month’s advance. But U.S. stocks fell anyway, as investors worried about slow growth.