North American stocks fall on jobless claims, tensions between U.S. and China

The TSX closed down 112.78 points on Thursday

Potential U.S. retaliation against China over the coronavirus and high jobless claims pushed North American stock markets lower.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 112.78 points at 14,884.85.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 101.78 points at 24,474.12. The S&P 500 index was down 23.10 points at 2,948.51, while the Nasdaq composite was down 90.89 points at 9,284.88.

The Canadian dollar traded for US71.76¢ compared with US71.98¢ on Wednesday.

The July crude contract was up 43 cents at US$33.92 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was down 5.7 cents at US$1.85 per mmBTU.

The June gold contract was down US$30.20 at US$1,721.90 an ounce and the July copper contract was down 2.8 cents at US$2.43 a pound.