North American stock markets declined at the start of Friday's trading as concerns regarding China and Europe weighed on the minds of investors.
Troubling investors was speculation China would raise interest rates to limit inflation. Sentiment was mixed regarding the issue of government debt in Europe, though there was some hope that current talks of Group of 20 leaders in South Korea would help mitigate the potential fallout.
Minutes after the open, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 99.43 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 12,835.31.
Commodity markets weren't helping matters on Bay Street. Crude oil in New York was down $1.38 U.S. to $86.43 U.S. a barrel. Gold fell $10.60 U.S. to $1,392.70 U.S. an ounce.
The Canadian dollar was trading at 99.16 cents U.S., down from its last official close of $1 U.S. even on Wednesday. The Bank of Canada was closed for Remembrance Day on Thursday.
On U.S. markets, the Dow Jones industrial average was off 41.93 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 11,241.17 shortly after trading started. The Nasdaq composite index was down 10.51 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 2,545.01.
European stock markets were mixed following data that showed economic growth in the European Union had slowed down in the third quarter. The United Kingdom's FTSE was off 6.17 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 5,809.06. France's CAC fell 29.69 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 3,837.66. The German DAX was up 1.91 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 6,725.32.
In Asia, Mainland China's Shanghai index plunged 162.31 points, or 5.16 per cent, to 2,985.44. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 477.72 points, or 1.93 per cent, to 24,222.58. In Japan, the Nikkei declined 136.65 points, or 1.39 per cent, to 9,724.81.
On Thursday, the S&P/TSX was down 7.9 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 12,934.74. In the U.S., the Dow Jones fell 73.94 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 11,283.10, while the Nasdaq declined 23.26 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 2,555.52.
