TORONTO –
Canada’s main stock index partially recovered from morning weakness but still closed at its lowest level in 16 months after its three largest sectors sustained big blows.
The heavyweight financials, energy and materials sectors were down between 1.8 and 3.2 per cent Thursday as eight of the 11 major sectors on the TSX decreased.
All large Canadian banks were weaker, led by a 5.6 per cent drop by Royal Bank, after the first earnings reports from U.S. banks were disappointing. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley missed expectations, supporting fears of an economic downturn.
Macan Nia, co-chief senior investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management, said the weakness was primarily driven by activity in their capital market businesses, which makes sense given that we’re in a bear market and IPO activity has dried up.
“Some analysts here, some investors here are expecting the…
