While the lettering has since been removed, the sign for the old Toronto Stock Exchange at 234 Bay St. can still be read on April 17 2014. The building is now home to the Design Exchange.FRED LUM/The Globe and Mail
Canadian stocks declined for the first time in five days after the Bank of Canada left its benchmark interest rate unchanged and commodities producers sank with metals prices.
Pretium Resources Inc. slipped 6.3 per cent, while First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Eldorado Gold Corp. fell at least 2.4 per cent as gold slid the most in two weeks and copper dropped.
The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index fell 105.5 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 14,442.23 early Wednesday afternoon. The gauge rose the most in a year yesterday to cap a four-day rally.
The Bank of Canada kept its policy interest rate at 1 per cent, as expected, and removed the word "neutral" from its statement today. The economy won't reach full output until the second half of 2016, the bank said.
"The Bank judges that the risks to its inflation projection are roughly balanced," policy makers led by Governor Stephen Poloz, 58, said in a statement from Ottawa. The bank dropped a line used at its last decision Sept. 3 that said it "remains neutral with respect to the next change to the policy rate."
Canada's Parliament has been locked down after a soldier was shot at the nation's war memorial in Ottawa. A gunman was later shot and killed by police, according to two members of parliament.
"We're in an environment where the market is very skittish. The market is very nervous right now and is reacting to every headline that comes out," said Allan Small, a senior investment adviser at HollisWealth.
He said it was unclear if the shooting had anything to do with the stock market decline.
The benchmark index had rebounded in the previous four sessions after hitting an eight-month low last week.
"Investor sentiment is mixed," Small said, referring to the recent correction. "The savvy investor is looking at this as a buying opportunity because the fundamentals are solid."
U.S. markets were mixed Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up 1.25 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 1,942.53, while the Dow Jones Industrials was down 30.67 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 16,584.14 and the Nasdaq was down 1.53 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 4,417.95.
Eight of the 10 industries in the benchmark Canadian equity gauge decreased, with materials producers sliding 1.3 per cent and energy companies losing 0.5 per cent.
The S&P/TSX Gold Index fell 2.1 per cent, adding to a selloff that's seen it fall 23 per cent from a five-month high. NovaGold Resources Inc. lost 5.2 per cent to $3.18.
Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. declined 6.9 per cent to $10.21. TD Securities analysts cut the stock's rating to hold from buy.
With files from Reuters