North American stocks remained deep into negative territory on Thursday at midday, although up a little from their earlier lows.
At noon, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 223 points or 2.1 per cent, to 10,221 - 100 points above its low. The broader S&P 500 was down 26 points or 2.3 per cent, to 1089 - also up from its earlier low, but still conforming to the definition of a stock market correction of a 10 per cent decline from a recent peak.
Investors were not making much of a distinction among stocks, sending all 10 subindexes within the S&P 500 down substantially. However, cyclical stocks fell hardest. Industrials fell 3.1 per cent, materials fell 2.9 per cent and energy stocks fell 2.7 per cent.
The best performance came from health care stocks, but even they fell 1.8 per cent. Meanwhile utilities and consumer staples - also seen as defensive holdings - fell 1.9 per cent each.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index was down 155 points or 1.3 per cent, to 11,511. That represents a 100 point gain from its earlier low.
Energy stocks fell 1.7 per cent - which isn't so dramatic when you think that the price of crude oil fell back below $70 a barrel, taking it to its lowest level since September, 2009. Information technology stocks fell 2 per cent and industrials fell 1.5 per cent.
Telecom services were near the top in terms of performance, falling just 0.6 per cent. Materials also held up reasonably well, falling 0.8 per cent as gold producers essentially treaded water.