Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Energy and technologies helped push Canada's main stock index lower as a shrunken U.S. economy last quarter and aggressive comments from Fed officials had investors worrying about weaker demand and a potential recession.
The government reported Wednesday that the economy shrank at a 1.6 per cent annual pace in the first three months of the year.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and another Fed member also suggested a 75 basis point rate hike next month was required to tame inflation.
At a European Central Bank forum in Portugal, Powell repeated his hope that the Fed can achieve a so-called soft landing: raising interest rates just enough to slow the economy and rein in surging consumer prices without causing a recession and sharply raising the unemployment rate.
But, he said the path to achieving that goal has become more difficult and there's "no guarantee" the central bank can tame runaway inflation without hurting the job market.
Anish Chopra, managing director with Portfolio Management Corp., said it doesn't appear like the market believes a soft landing is possible amid some negative macroeconomic data about slowing economic growth.
"The Federal Reserve is looking like it's going to continue down its rate path of 75 basis point increases. That just slows global growth, slows oil demand, and that's had an impact on the price of oil, which is down," he said in an interview.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 144.10 points to 19,078.64.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 82.32 points at 31,029.31. The S&P 500 index was down 2.72 points at 3,818.83, while the Nasdaq composite was down 3.65 points at 11,177.89.
Energy was the biggest laggard, losing 3.7 per cent as crude oil prices slumped with Crescent Point Energy Corp. off 7.6 per cent and Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. down 6.6 per cent.
The August crude oil contract was down US$1.98 at US$109.78 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down 7.2 cents at US$6.50 per mmBTU.
The Canadian dollar traded for 77.65 cents US compared with 77.74 cents US on Tuesday.
The TSX is down 14 per cent so far in 2022 and 13 per cent lower in the second quarter, but U.S. markets are on track to have the worst quarters since at least the 2020 pandemic.
With one day left in the second quarter, the S&P 500 is down nearly 16 per cent over three months and 20 per cent for the year; Nasdaq is down 21 per cent in the quarter and nearly 29 per cent for the half-year; and the Dow is off 10.5 and almost 15 per cent, respectively.
"If you look at the performance of all of these markets ... over the last six months, it's been a tough go for the indices and a tough go for investors," said Chopra.
Technology lost 2.2 per cent with Shopify Inc. down nearly 91 per cent following a 10-for-1 stock split.
Despite a drop in bond yields, the growth sector is under pressure from Fed comments about the central bank continuing down the path of increasing rates.
"It just could be that we're going to see these 75 basis point increases going forward for a little bit and then unless you get inflation coming back, it'll be hard to see the Federal Reserve dropping down to less than 75 basis points," Chopra added.
Health care decreased 3.2 per cent as Aurora Cannabis Inc. shares fell 8.8 per cent.
Materials, which includes miners, forestry producers and fertilizer companies, dropped as bullion prices were lower.
The August gold contract was down US$3.70 at US$1,817.50 an ounce and the September copper contract was essentially flat at US$3.78 a pound.
Consumer staples, industrials and telecommunications were the only sectors in positive territory on the day.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2022
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.