Daily Wrap-Up: Sharp drop for TSX as oil plummets 4 per cent

Sharp drop for TSX as oil plummets 4 per cent... Home Capital could be about to get a new $2 billion loan... Household borrowing eased in first quarter of 2017...

Daily Wrap-Up: Sharp drop for TSX as oil plummets 4 per cent
Steve Randall
Sharp drop for TSX as oil plummets 4 per cent
Oil prices dropped around 4 per cent Wednesday as US data revealed larger than expected stockpiles. The energy sector of the TSX took a similar tumble, dragging the main TSX index down more than 200 points.

The materials sector was also down sharply with 9 sectors lower overall and even the best-performer, utilities, was flat.

On Wall Street, the Dow hit a new record high following the Fed’s latest interest rate rise and plan to cut its balance sheet; but the Nasdaq and S&P500 closed lower. European and Asian indexes were mixed.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 209.6 (1.36 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed up 46.09 (0.22 per cent)
Oil is trending lower (Brent $47.01, WTI $44.74 at 4.10pm)
Gold is trending lower (1261.30 at 4.10pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7536

Home Capital could be about to get a new $2 billion loan
Home Capital is reportedly hoping to secure a new loan agreement with major lenders, to replace the one it currently has.

Reuters reports that the $2 billion loan from a syndicate of lenders would be less costly than its emergency line of credit secured to provide liquidity as deposits fell.

An anonymous source has told Reuters that TD, RBC and BMO are all involved in the potential loan. Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse are also reported to be in talks with Home Capital although it’s not clear if they would be part of the syndicate.

Household borrowing eased in first quarter of 2017
The demand for borrowing from Canadian households was down in the first quarter of 2017, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, households borrowed $27.5 billion in the first quarter, down slightly from $27.6 billion borrowed the previous quarter.

Mortgage debt was $2.7 billion higher from the previous quarter, to $20.9 billion while borrowing in the form of consumer credit and non-mortgage loans declined $2.8 billion to $6.5 billion.

The debt-to-income ratio was also slightly lower than the previous quarter at  $1.67 of debt for every dollar of income; year-over-year though it was up from $1.64.


 

LATEST NEWS