Miners, energy stocks drag TSX down

Canada’s main stock index fell on Wednesday as precious and base metal miners and oil companies tracked commodity prices lower on growing bets of U.S. interest rate hikes.

At 10:04 a.m. ET (1404 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was down 50.46 points, or 0.24%, at 20,634.22.

The energy sector (.SPTTEN) dropped 1.5% as oil prices slid almost 2% as potential U.S. interest rate hikes that could slow growth and curb oil consumption outweighed strong Chinese economic data and falling U.S. inventories.

The materials sector (.GSPTTMT), which includes precious and base metals miners, lost 0.9% as well, with precious and base metal prices losing ground against the dollar.

While the TSX clocked its longest winning streak since the start of the year on Tuesday, buoyed by commodity-linked stocks, rising bets of U.S. interest rates staying higher for longer has recently dented investor sentiment.

This report’s information was first seen on REUTERS; to read more, click this link.