S&P/TSX composite falls more than 1.5 per cent, U.S. markets also slip

By The Canadian Press on March 10, 2023.

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A currency trader passes by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 9, 2023. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street steadied following a plunge on worries about more U.S. interest rate hikes. THE CANADIAN PRERSS/AP-Ahn Young-joon

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index lost more than 1.5 per cent Friday on broad-based weakness led by financials and technology, while U.S. markets also fell.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 311.80 points at 19,774.92.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 345.22 points at 31,909.64. The S&P 500 index was down 56.73 points, or almost 1.5 per cent, at 3,861.59, while the Nasdaq composite was down 199.47 points, or 1.8 per cent, at 11,138.89.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.43 cents US compared with 72.52 cents US on Thursday.

The April crude contract was up 96 cents at US$76.68 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down 11 cents at US$2.43 per mmBTU.

The April gold contract was up US$32.60 at US$1,867.20 an ounce and the May copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.03 a pound.