Stocks in Canada’s largest centre fell on Wednesday, pulling back from a record high the day before, as lower oil prices weighed on the shares of energy companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite scaled back 43.21 points to open Wednesday at 15,879.16
The Canadian dollar fell 0.19 cents to 75.87 cents U.S.
Restaurant Brands International Inc jumped more than 7% Tuesday after it announced acquisition of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for $1.8 billion in cash.
The parent company of Tim Hortons shed a dime to $75.55 soon after Wednesday’s opening bell.
Saputo Inc bought out Australian firm Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Co Holdings’ largest minority shareholder, Lion Pty Ltd, all but securing a takeover offer for the 12% of WCB that Saputo does not already own.
Saputo shares forged ahead 19 cents to $46.17.
Maple Leaf Foods’ quarterly profit more than doubled as margins in its prepared meats business improved. Maple Leaf shares shot ahead 62 cents, or 2.1%, to $30.47.
National Bank Financial raised the target price on Capital Power to $30.00 from $29.00. Capital shares gained 39 cents, or 1.5%, to $26.19.
CIBC raised the target price on Sienna Senior Living to $17.25 from $17.00. Sienna shares fell 10 cents to $17.83.
Desjardins raised the target price on Veresen to $14.00 from $13.00 with a hold rating. Veresen acquired six cents to $14.13.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that retail sales had their win streak snapped at four in December, decreasing 0.5% in the last month of calendar 2016.
Drops were widespread as lower sales were reported in nine of 11 sub-sectors, representing 82% of retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.49 points to 847.46
All but three of the 12 subgroups were on the negative side in the first hour of trade, as energy wilted 1%, while financials and consumer discretionaries each dipped 0.3%.
The two gainers were health-care, haler by 0.8%, and information technology, eking up 0.1%. Consumer staple stocks were unchanged.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell Wednesday as investors eagerly awaited a key Federal Reserve release.
The Dow Jones Industrials deleted 6.83 points from Tuesday’s all-time high to 20,736.17, with Chevron the main agent of these losses.
The S&P 500 docked 4.08 points to 2,361.26, with energy leading decliners
The NASDAQ slid 11.35 points to 5,854.38.
Stocks managed record highs across the board Tuesday amid solid earnings from Dow components Home Depot and Wal-Mart
The central bank is scheduled to release the minutes from its meeting earlier this month and Wall Street is expected to parse through them in search of clues about when — and how many times — it will raise interest rates this year.
In economic news, weekly mortgage applications stateside fell 2% for the week ending Feb. 17 amid lackluster refinancing. Existing home sales rose 3.3% in January.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained strength, lowering yields to 2.41% from Tuesday’s 2.43%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subsided 76 cents to $53.57 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices faded 40 cents to $1,238.50 U.S. an ounce.
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