NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Investors sold off Canadian stocks Wednesday amid poor economic readings out of Europe and the U.S., sending the American dollar higher and reducing the investment appeal of commodities.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index (CA:ISPTX 10,355, -233.97, -2.21%) fell 2.3% to 10,343 points.
Eurostat, the European Union's official statistics agency, said Wednesday that the 16-nation bloc's gross domestic product fell more than previously announced. For the first quarter the euro zone contracted 4.8%, as opposed to 4.6% before the revision.
In the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management released its non-nonmanufacturing index, which crept up in May to 44% from 43.7% in April. Economists were expecting an increase to 46%. Readings under 50% indicate that most firms say business conditions worsened in May compared with April. The new orders index fell to 44.4% from 47%.
The U.S. ADP employment index released Wednesday showed the private sector eliminated 532,000 net jobs in May.
As a result, investors flocked back to the relative safety of the U.S. dollar versus other currencies, which put downward pressure on commodities.
The U.S. dollar index (DXY 79.11, +0.70, +0.90%) , which measures the performance of the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 1% to 79.2 points.
Just about all Canadian sectors were in the red, led by energy and metal stocks.
The S&P/TSX Capped Energy Trust Index (CA:IRTEN 117.27, -4.12, -3.39%) declined 3% to 117.8 points. Petro-Canada (CA:PCA 45.13, -2.19, -4.62%) was off about 4%. Talisman Energy Inc. fell 4.6%.
In futures, gold for June delivery fell $5.70, or 0.6%, to $977.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. July silver fell 11.5 cents, or 0.7%, to $15.84 an ounce. See full story.
Crude oil for July delivery fell $1.80, or 2.6%, to $66.75 a barrel, accelerating its losses after the Energy Information Administration reported that U.S commercial crude oil inventories unexpectedly rose by 2.9 million barrels last week. See full story.
The loonie is off its recent highs Wednesday, falling 1.5% to 91.13 cents per Canadian dollar.
