Stocks sink on Wall Street

K.T.Jagannathan

Markets continue to follow the downhill course as the key indices of Wall Street stretched losses into early Friday. Technology stocks tanked heavily. The continuing stock slide comes even as the U.S. Labour Department released its much-anticipated employment report. Data indicated that the jobless rate dipped to 8.4% in August, down from 10.2% in July. Nonfarm payrolls, however, increased less than expected last month. But markets aren’t amused, it appears. No doubt, the data is quite encouraging. Yet, the number is still a long way away from pre-COVID levels. How this plays out in the coming days is anybody’s guess. With just a few months to go for the American presidential elections, the labor data will get varied interpretation and provide sufficient fodder for both the Democrats and the Republicans to launch a no-holds-barred attack on each other.

The forex rates

On a free fall day like the one on Friday, the Canadian dollar was trading at 0.7626 against the American dollar at 3.59 p.m. (GMT). Against the British pound, CAD was trending at 0.5773 (4.02 p.m.). The Canadian currency was quoting at 0.6462 against the Euro at 4.03 p.m. The CAD was trading at 81.1832 against the Japanese Yen at 4.44 p.m. and at 5.2232 against the Chinese Yuan at 4.45 p.m. And, against the Indian rupee, the CAD was hovering around at 55.9354 (4.46 p.m.).