Canadian and U.S. stock markets down after Powell speech

TORONTO — Stock markets in Canada and the United States were down in late-morning trading following a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell in which he said he expects to keep interest rates high in his fight against inflation.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 246.43 points at 19,925.91.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 517.47 points at 32,774.31. The S&P 500 index was down 81.09 points at 4,118.03, while the Nasdaq composite was down 312.72 points at 12,326.54.

The Canadian dollar traded for 76.89 cents US compared with 77.30 cents US on Thursday.

The October crude contract was down 30 cents at US$92.22 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up nine cents at US$9.44per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$21.20 at US$1,750.20 an ounce and the September copper contract was down less than a penny at US$3.70 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)

The Canadian Press