Canada’s main stock index fell on Wednesday, led by a drop among industrials shares, followed by a continued sag in the tech sector. Continuing its policy of balance sheet normalization, the Bank of Canada reduced its target for the overnight interest rate to 4.5 per cent, with the bank rate at 4.75 per cent and the deposit rate at 4.5 per cent.
U.S. markets sunk lower as quarterly reports from mega-cap tech companies underwhelmed traders. Google owners Alphabet (NDAQ:GOOG) closed more than 5 per cent lower, even though it reported a top- and bottom-line beat, YouTube advertising revenue fell below estimates. Meanwhile, Tesla (NDAQ:TSLA) shares declined more than 12 per cent on weaker-than-expected results and a 7 per cent year-over-year drop in auto revenue.
| TSX | 22,639.57 | -174.18 |  |
| TSXV | 576.92 | -6.52 | |
| CSE | 165.81 | -7.27 | |
| DJIA | 39,853.87 | -504.22 | |
| NASDAQ | 17,342.41 | -654.94 | |
| S&P 500 | 5,432.42 | -123.32 | |
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.42 cents U.S. compared with 72.59 cents U.S. on Tuesday.
U.S. crude futures traded $0.68 higher at $77.64 a barrel, and the Brent contract rose $0.63 to $81.64 a barrel.
The price of gold was down US$7.25 to US$2,400.38.
In world markets, the Nikkei was down 439.54 points to 39,154.85, the Hang Seng was down 158.31 points to 17,311.05, the FTSE was down 13.74 points to 8,153.63, and the DAX was down 170.24 points to 18,387.46.
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(Top image: Bank of Canada)