TORONTO -- North American stock markets retracted amid news that the U.S. Federal Reserve was hiking interest rates for the first time this year.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index dropped 188.09 points, or 1.22 per cent, at 15,197.18, with the most pressure coming from the gold, materials and energy sectors.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 118.68 points to 19,792.53 and the S&P 500 slipped 18.44 points to 2,253.28. The Nasdaq composite edged down 27.16 points to 5,436.67.
The U.S. central bank says it's raising its key interest rate by a quarter point to a range of 0.5 to 0.75 per cent due to strong signs of a growing economy and expectations for higher inflation.
The Fed also signalled that it anticipates there will be three rate increases in 2017.
The move sent the U.S. dollar higher, dragging the Canadian dollar lower. The loonie dipped 0.80 of a U.S. cent to 75.34 cents US.
Oil prices also slipped, after reaching record highs this week. The January crude contract lost $1.94 to US$51.04 per barrel and January natural gas advanced seven cents to $3.54 per mmBTU.
The February gold contract gained $4.70 to US$1,163.70 an ounce and March copper contracts were up a penny to US$2.60 a pound.
