TSX closes down 0.48%
Tech and metals leads declines
Vizsla Silver drops by 16% after abduction of its 10 miners
Updates story with market closing data, changes bullets to reflect closing data
By Utkarsh Hathi
Jan 29 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed down by 0.48%, recovering its losses of the day, as drag in Wall Street technology shares spilled over into Toronto markets and a sharp pull-back in precious-metal prices dragged down mining stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index .GSPTSE closed down 0.48%% at 32,812.69 points.
TSX's technology index .GSPTTHC that sank 5.7% when markets opened, recovered later during the day closing down 0.62%.The biggest index drag were led by metal shares that closed down 3%.
The losses came as investors digested earnings from U.S. tech giants that pointed to another surge in spending on artificial intelligence.
Vizsla Silver VZLA.N plunged 16% after the company reported yesterday that 10 of its workers were abducted in Mexico.
"Today's decline in tech is mostly AI driven...Celestica is the closest you can get to AI exposure in Canada," said Kevin Burkett, portfolio manager at Burkett Asset management. Celestica CLS.TO closed down 14% at the TSX after not meeting investor expectations on its quarterly numbers.
"I think now we're in bubble territory. The last week or so, the move in the prices of these metals has gone parabolic," said Michael Dehal, senior portfolio manager, Dehal Investment Partners at Raymond James.
Energy stocks .SPTTEN were a bright spot, rising 1.2%, as oil prices advanced amid fears of a potential U.S. strike on major crude producer Iran.
In other notable moves, Rogers Communications RCIb.TO rose 2.7% after the wireless service provider reported quarterly revenue above estimates, helping TSX's communications index .GSPTTTS gain 0.6%.
(Reporting by Utkarsh Tushar Hathi; Divya Rajagopal and Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Jonathan Ananda and Alistair Bell)
((utkarshtushar.hathi@thomsonreuters.com))
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