Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Canada's main stock index concluded its third losing week in a row by giving back some of its recent gains amid concerns out of China about the real estate market and the country's ban on cryptocurrencies.
Markets were hit early Friday by China's decision to declare digital currencies like Bitcoin illegal. That particularly affected the technology sector.
Canadian digital asset miner Hut 8 Mining Corp. lost 5.3 per cent to push the technology sector down 1.2 per cent.
There were also suggestions that Evergrande may have missed a debt payment, renewing questions about its solvency and the potential spillover effects on the global economy.
Evergrande has caused the market this week to focus on China's real estate and real estate finance and assess whether the key driver of the country's economy may be weaker for a significant period of time, says Geoff Castle, portfolio manager for PenderFund.
"I think that the headlines around Evergrande are kind of a bit of a late reflection of something that's been kind of a decade in the making, which is a bit of a potentially unsustainable situation in the Chinese property market," he said in an interview.
Investors are also considering the knock-on effects of Evergrande on commodities, interest rates and the availability of credit throughout Asia.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 59.27 points to 20,402.66, losing 87.7 points over a topsy-turvy week.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 33.18 points at 34,798.00. The S&P 500 index was up 6.50 points at 4,455.48, while the Nasdaq composite was down 4.54 points at 15,047.70.
Health care and technology led the nine sectors that lost ground on the TSX.
The sector that includes cannabis producers fell 2.8 per cent as shares of Cronos Group Inc. and Canopy Growth Corp. decreased 5.1 and 4.5 per cent, respectively.
Materials slipped even as metal prices rose.
The December gold contract was up US$1.90 at US$1,751.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up 5.45 cents at nearly US$4.29 a pound.
Energy was the leading sector on the day, gaining 1.3 per cent on higher energy prices.
The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$73.98 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up 15.7 cents at US$5.20 per mmBTU.
Whitecap Resources Inc. gained 9.3 per cent while Enerplus Inc. was up 4.8 per cent.
The energy sector currently faces attractive operating conditions, said Castle, as crude oil prices have rebounded to their highest level since mid July and natural gas prices continue to be strong.
"You're seeing as a result quite significant drawdowns in the product inventories and that means prices have been a bit higher, which means companies that are involved in that sector continue to be quite profitable right now," he said.
"And then the market is trying to gauge the degree that that will continue to be the case."
The Canadian dollar traded for 78.86 cents US compared with 79.03 cents US on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2021.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.