The lofty Canadian dollar flew lower for the third day in a row Friday, and North American stock markets endured big sell-offs as investors backed away from risk.
The loonie fell more than three-quarters of a cent to close at $1.0607 US. It's dropped four full cents from its modern-day high on Wednesday morning just above $1.10 US.
Weekly losses | |
---|---|
Index | % |
S&P/TSX composite | -3.44 |
Dow Jones industrial average | -4.06 |
Nasdaq composite | -6.49 |
In after-hours trading, the loonie sank further to just below $1.06 US.
A morning report that Canada's September trade surplus came in much lower than the market expected set an early negative tone for the dollar.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 258.77 points to 13,869.82. The benchmark index has dropped almost 500 points in the last week.
Financials, energy and IT were the biggest losing sectors in a day that saw broad-based declines.
Bank stocks fell as investors continued to worry about writedowns from credit market losses. CIBC, which disclosed Friday it would take a $463-million charge on exposure to the U.S. subprime market, actually had the smallest loss — just nine cents to $96.24. The bank said loss would be more than offset by a gain on the restructuring of VISA International.
Shares of BMO dropped almost five per cent to a new 52-week low of $56.52. BMO may report a $100-million writedown on its investments in non-bank asset-backed commercial paper, Bloomberg reported.
Research in Motion shares — which have more than doubled in the last year — led a big sell-off in the technology sector. RIM's stock plunged $10.34 to $106.76. The shares had dropped more than $6 on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Cisco Systems issued a negative outlook for 2008 and "referred specifically to weakness in financial companies," Laura Wallace, managing director of Coleford Investment Management, told CBC News. "That's a big area of strength for RIM," she said.
Goldcorp reported a higher third-quarter profit, but it missed the estimates of analysts as higher costs and a higher Canadian dollar mitigated the benefit from higher gold prices. Goldcorp shares fell 86 cents to $32.82.
Canada's biggest toymaker — Montreal-based Mega Brands — saw its shares plunge by a third (down $5.10 to $9.95) as it reported an unexpected $11-million third-quarter loss following recalls and lower sales.
The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 223.55 points to 13,042.74. The Dow lost 4.1 per cent on the week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 6.49 per cent on the week. It lost more than 68 points Friday to end the week at 2627.94.
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