By Robb M. Stewart


Stocks in Toronto were sharply lower Thursday, tracking weakness in U.S. markets amid heightened concerns interest rates could be lifted further.

Financial and technology stocks were leading broad declines in midday trading, after the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June policy meeting released Wednesday offered nothing to dispel market expectations of a rate increase this month. Data from payroll-services firm ADP indicated the U.S. private sector added more jobs in June than expected. The Bank of Canada is set to decide on interest rates next week, having ended a short-lived pause on its aggressive tightening campaign last month.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was 1.5% lower at 19805.40, and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 was down 1.5% at 1192.51.

Shares of Canada's big banks were all in the red, with each falling at least 0.9%. Toronto-Dominion Bank led the decline with a drop of 2.3%.


Other market movers:

Richelieu Hardware was down 5.7% at C$39.30 after the specialty hardware manufacturer and distributor reported a 35% fall in second-quarter net earnings as sales declined.


Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-06-23 1246ET