Markets take another tumble
Stock markets in Canada and the United States had another bad day Thursday as interest rate worries again sent investors to the sidelines.
The S&P/TSX composite index shed 215 points to 13,726 by 1:45 p.m. ET. That followed a drop of 200 points on Wednesday. S&P/TSX composite index three-month trading
Every industry sector was lower, with mining, utilities, industrialsand golds off more than two per cent. Gold futuresdropped more than $10 US an ounce to $664.10 US in New York trading.
The heavily weighted financials sector slipped 1.1 per cent, while energy stocks fell 1.6 per cent, despiteoil prices that rose almost $1 US a barrel to $66.80 US.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell for the third straight day down 158 points to 13,307. The Dow fell almost 130 points on Wednesday.
Recent signs of economic strength in the U.S. andcomments this weekfrom Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke about the risks of rising inflationhave increased thelikelihood that interest rates will not be cut in the U.S. and may even go up. Higher interest rateshurt corporate profits.
Other central banks havebeen in a rate-hiking mood. The most recent examples came Wednesday, when the European and New Zealand central banks bothraised their key lending rates by a quarter of a percentage point.
The Bank of England left its key rate unchanged Thursday, but it too is expected to raise rates in the months to come.