Equities in Toronto slipped in morning trade on Wednesday, as losses for its heavyweight financial and natural resource sectors offset a sharp boost in BlackBerry Ltd shares after it won an arbitration ruling against chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 69.96 points to greet noon at 15,657.15
The Canadian dollar climbed 0.63 cents at 75.15 cents U.S.
BlackBerry – once known as Research in Motion -- surged $1.51, or 14.7%, to $11.70, though off its highs of the day, after Qualcomm was ordered to repay it $814.9 million in royalty payments.
Shaw Communications also gained, up $1.26, or 4.6%, to $28.71, after reporting a jump in revenue driven by the addition of more wireless customers.
The financials group slipped, as investors braced for U.S. bank earnings season. Royal Bank of Canada declined 79 cents to $96.05 and Bank of Nova Scotia slipped 87 cents, or 1.1%, to $76.62.
Among energy concerns, Suncor Energy lost 18 cents to $41.29.
Elsewhere, Cenovus Energy was down 33 cents, or 2.2% at $14.39. The company's chief executive said on Tuesday that Cenovus will do more hedging after its acquisition of ConocoPhillips assets as he mounted a charm offensive on investors who balked at the deal.
The Bank of Canada did as expected Wednesday, holding rates at 0.5%, where rates have stayed since the bank cut twice in 2015.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange took on 1.63 points to 830.67
The 12 TSX subgroups were divided evenly into gainers and losers, as information technology climbed 1%, while consumer discretionary and telecoms each surged 0.5%.
Among the half-dozen laggards, materials slumped 0.9%, industrials dropped 0.7%, while gold eased 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities slipped on Wednesday as investors assessed the geopolitical landscape and braced for the start of earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 77.3 points to pause for noon ET at 20,574. Boeing and Caterpillar had the greatest negative impact on the Dow, which fell more than 50 points below its 50-day moving average, a level it has not closed under since Nov. 7.
The S&P 500 shed 10.61 points to 2,343.17, also falling below its 50-day moving average with materials and industrials the worst performers. The index was also on track to close below its 50-day moving average for the first time since Nov. 8.
The NASDAQ Composite stumbled 31.18 points to 5,835.59
JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are scheduled to report Thursday morning. Delta Air Lines, meanwhile, posted better-than-expected results, sending its stock higher 40 cents by noon ET to $45.69 U.S.
U.S. State Secretary Rex Tillerson visited Moscow on Wednesday and received a barrage of criticism from several Russian officials.
Ahead of a meeting with Tillerson, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he wanted to know what the real intentions of the U.S. administration are, following its missile strikes in Syria.
Geopolitical tensions have been brewing ahead of a highly anticipated earnings seasons. Media reports say earnings are expected to have grown around 10% in the first quarter. Sales, meanwhile, are expected to have grown the most since 2011.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained slightly, dropping yields to 2.29% from Tuesday’s 2.3%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained a penny at $53.41 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices added $2.30 at $1,276.50 U.S. an ounce.
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