North American shares end lower in choppy trading as volatility eases

North American sharesclosed lower Wednesdayafter a day of choppy trading, but financial markets were generally calmer after several days of high volatilityand steep losses.

TheS&P/TSX composite index lost 0.1per cent to15,346pointsin Toronto as lower oil prices weighed on the index.

The benchmark U.S. crude price tumbled2.5 per cent to $61.79 US a barrel its lowest since early January after data showed that stockpiles grew the most since September.

That led energy shares to fall by about one per cent.

The Canadian markethad snapped a six-day losing streak on Tuesday, as Wall Street also bounced back near the end of the trading day.

Volatile shares of marjiuana producers also led the declines, with Canopy Growth closing down more than four per cent.

Shares of investment firm Canaccord Genuityalsofell almost fiveper cent despite the fact its third-quarter revenue beatexpectations.

The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, tradedat an average value of 79.71US cents, lower thanTuesday's average of 79.81 cents.

The loonie hasweakened in the past few days as investors fled to the safety of the U.S.dollar amid volatility.

Unready for surprises

The CBOE Volatility index, known as the VIX, which is considered the best gauge of expected volatilityon Wall Street, wasat 26 more than double where it was two weeks ago.But it hadspiked to over 50 onTuesday.

Mark McCormick of TD Securities said the recent market action signals investors are not ready for "upside surprises" in inflation, given years of "downside misses."

"The primary takeaway is that markets are not prepared for an abrupt tightening of financial conditions," he said in a note.

"Now, equity valuations (particularly in the U.S.) might look much less attractive against higher real rates."

The downward market spiral began on Friday after U.S. jobs data showed wages growing faster than expected, which raised the prospect of higher inflation that could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by more than expected.

On Tuesday, however, St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullardcautioned against interpreting any good news from the labour market as resulting directly inhigher inflation.

U.S. markets

In New York, theDow Jones industrial average closed down almost0.1per cent or 19points to24,893.

Volatile trading Tuesday saw the Dow Joneslose as much as 567 points in the morning, followed by a 569-point surge near the end of the dayto finish higher by 2.3 per cent.

On Tuesday, it had briefly entered into correction territory, which is a 10 per cent drop from its peak.

The S&P 500 lost0.5per cent to 2,682, while the Nasdaq composite finisheddown 0.9per centat7,052points.

Tech giants such as Apple and Facebook saw some of the biggest losses in the market, closing down more than twoper cent and nearly threeper cent respectively.

On the other end, shares of casino companyWynn Resortsrose over eightper cent after CEO Steve Wynn resigned in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct.

U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitterfor the first time to post his view of what's been happening in the markets on Wednesday.

Around the world

Asian markets closed mixed overnight, taking cues from the volatile trading day in North America on Tuesday.

The region's biggest market Japan's Nikkei 225 index finished higher by 0.2 per cent to21,645, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.9 per cent to30,323 points.

Mainland Chinese shares saw bigger losses with the Shanghai composite down 1.8 per cent to 3,310.

In Europe, the benchmark Stoxx600 index closedhigher by over two per cent with all major stock exchangesand sectors in positive territory.