Health-Care Stocks Weighed on TSX by Noon

The S&P/TSX Composite lost 156.8 points by noon to 21,392.04.

The Canadian dollar ditched 0.09 cents at 78.49 cents U.S.

Health-care stocks fell with major pot producers among the chief losers.
Canopy Growth down 43 cents, or 3.7%, to $11.28, Cronos Group skidding 11 cents, or 2.2%, to $5.01, though Aurora Cannabis nosed ahead two cents to $5.76.

Ukrainian Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko said his country was prepared to make some concessions to Russia, easing investor concerns that have rattled global equities following U.S. comments that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time.

A pandemic-driven exodus of young families out of Canada's largest cities has depleted a core age group of workers from the already tight labour market, which experts say risks accelerating wage inflation in certain industries.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 2.44 points to 866.33.

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative midday, with energy tumbling 1.3%, while health-care and financial stocks each subsided 1.1%.

The two gainers were gold, up 0.7%, while information technology picked up 0.4%.

ON WALLSTREET

The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved lower on Monday as investors evaluated the Federal Reserve’s plan for interest rate hikes as tensions between Russia and Ukraine remain unresolved.

The 30-stock index came off its lows of the morning, but still trailed Friday’s close by 171.15 points to 34,566.91, dragged down by losses in Cisco and Chevron.

The S&P 500 ditched 6.71 points to 4,411.93.

The NASDAQ, on the other hand, zoomed 102 points to 13,893.16. Zoom Video, which rose 3.6%, and Netflix, which popped nearly 4%, boosted the NASDAQ.

Earnings are expected to ramp up again this week, with Nvidia, Walmart, Shopify, AMC and more scheduled to report.

Sentiment was helped following comments from Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Vladimir Putin in Moscow that suggested Russia would continue diplomatic talks with the West over Ukraine, lowering tensions a bit following a market selloff Friday.

Fed officials opined that the central bank needed to fight inflation more aggressively, echoing comments he made last week that pressured the stock market.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that inflation in January surged 7.5%, its biggest 12-month gain since 1982.

Prices for 10-year Treasurys flopped, raising yields sharply to 2.02%, from Friday’s 1.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices regained 48 cents to $93.58 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices $22.00 to $1,864.10 U.S. an ounce.