Market News: After the Bell
TSX slammed again
RTGAM
The Toronto stock market was slammed with a triple-digit drop for a second session Wednesday as investors sold off energy and mining stocks on worries about the degree that demand for commodities will suffer in an economic downturn.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed off the lows of the day, losing 241.92 points to 13,074.86 after losing more than 300 points at one point during the morning.
"We know the stuff is bad, there is likely more to come and it ain't going to be pretty - it's going to be ugly in fact," said Adrian Mastracci, portfolio manager at KCM Wealth Management in Vancouver.
The loss is the latest in a long string of declines this month that have left the TSX just 166 points away from where it started 2007.
The energy sector led the losses, falling 2.88 per cent as oil prices continued to register steep declines.
The February crude contract on the New York mercantile Exchange fell $1.06 (U.S.) to $90.84 a barrel after the U.S. government said crude oil supplies jumped unexpectedly last week.
The gold sector was down 3.55 per cent as the February bullion contract in New York fell $20.60 to $882 on a strengthening U.S. dollar.
The TSX Venture Exchange was down 45.61 points to 2,724.21.
The Canadian dollar was also a casualty of the volatility on equity markets, moving down 0.77 of a cent to 97.6 cents.
New York indexes settled down following steep losses Tuesday even as investors dealt with earnings disappointments from investment bank JPMorgan Chase and chip giant Intel.
They also took in a reading from the Federal Reserve confirming that damage from the contracting housing sector and the credit crisis are making consumers and businesses more cautious.
The Dow Jones industrials slipped 34.95 points to 12,466.16. The Nasdaq composite dropped 23 points to 2,394.59 while the S&P 500 index edged 7.75 points lower to 1,373.2. The Canadian Press
Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail