NEW YORK – Falling oil prices continued to weigh on North American stock markets as investors remained deeply concerned about the global economy following this week’s disappointing Chinese and U.S. manufacturing data.
Canadian shares on the TSX composite index ended Tuesday’s sell-off down more than 1.8 per cent or 232.1 points to 12,415.43.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 295.5 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 16,153.67 by the end of the session. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 36.34 points, or 1.87 per cent, to 1,903.04 and the Nasdaq composite fell 103.4 points, or 2.24 per cent, to 4,516.95.
Bank stocks in Canada and the United States fell on worries that oil prices will cause more energy loans to go bad, and that the slowing economy might impact their bottom line.
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Royal Bank and TD fell by more than a percent, while shares in JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America posted steeper declines.
“This is a market that’s not going anywhere fast. Weak China, weak oil is still with us and will be with us for a while. The market needs time to work through this, and until then, we will see more volatility, particularly because of China,” said Anatasia Amoroso, a global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
Oil slide
Selling pressure on crude prices continued on Tuesday as benchmark U.S. oil slumped $1.74, or 5.5 per cent, to close at $29.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a day after it plunged nearly 6 per cent.
Energy companies, as has been the case for several weeks, followed oil prices lower.
“Hope is extinguished for now, as the now two-day fall in crude has regained the market’s focus,” wrote John Briggs, head of Americas fixed income strategy at RBS, in a note to investors.
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