TSX falls more than 10% from peak as 'panic' hits Bay StreetYes, even Gold miners got hit as we moved downwards in a panic mode of selling off stocks. But where do you go?
Canadian stocks slumped into correction territory Friday amid the global market downdraft triggered by fears about COVID-19.
Shortly after 10 a.m. ET, the S&P/TSX composite index was down a little more than 10 per cent from its Feb. 20 peak.
It’s been a remarkable reversal on Bay Street after the TSX made a habit of smashing through records at the start of the year. But concerns about the coronavirus’s impact on economic growth and corporate profits have taken a heavy toll on the index.
Toronto-Dominion Bank and Royal Bank of Canada were each responsible for shaving more than 100 points off the TSX since it peaked last month, as of Friday morning. Other heavyweights including Enbridge Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Bank of Montreal round out the biggest drags on the index since its record high.
On the other side of the ledger, Barrick Gold Corp., Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Franco-Nevada Corp. have been the most influential offsets. (They are all down today too)
As of Friday morning, only 19 TSX-listed stocks were posting gains since Feb. 20.
“While stocks have been volatile and moving lower the past couple of weeks, [Friday’s] action which has taken the TSX into official correction territory, is the first time that we’ve seen investors panic,” said Andrew McCreath, host of Weekly on BNN Bloomberg, and chief executive at Forge First Asset Management.
“While beginning to nibble on the buy side of high quality dividend-paying securities makes sense, I continue to advise investors to watch versus transact with the majority of their hard earned dollars.”
Reference link to BNN Video here:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/tsx-falls-more-than-10-from-peak-as-panic-hits-bay-street-1.1401350