Canada’s main stock index opened lower on Thursday with across-the-board losses led by energy and material stocks, even as a batch of corporate earnings came out mostly positive.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index surrendered 57.71 points to open Thursday at 16,047.64
The Canadian dollar gained 0.26 cents to 78.61 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks dwindled after several days on a hot streak, as Canopy Growth Corporation skidded 92 cents, or 4.7%, to $18.77, while cannabis rival Aphria trailed Wednesday’s close by 31 cents, or 3.7%, to $8.05.
Tech stocks took their lumps, too, as BlackBerry doffed 11 cents to $13.68.
Materials had it rough, too, as Agnico Eagle Mines dropped eight cents to $57.97, while First Quantum Minerals surrendered 43 cents, or 2.6%, to $16.09.
On the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that new house prices in Canada rose 0.2% in September, largely reflecting increases in Kelowna and Vancouver, each improving less than 1%. Builders tied the rise to improved market conditions.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 1.9 points in Thursday’s first hour of trade to 792.89
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups declined first thing Thursday, with health-care waning 1.4%, information technology down 1%, and materials sliding 0.7%.
The three gainers were energy, up 0.4%, consumer staples, poking ahead 0.1%, and gold, squeaking up 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded lower on Thursday, pulling back from record highs, as a decline in technology stocks weighed on the broader market.
Wall Street also digested a mixed bag of corporate results from retail companies.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 65.23 points to 23,498.13, with Intel as the biggest decliner on the index. “Mr. Chips” sank 1.2%.
The S&P 500 declined 9.32 points to 2,585.06, with information technology as the leading decliner; the sector fell 1.2%.
Tech is by far the best-performing sector in the S&P 500 this year. The sector is up 37% in 2017, boosted by strong earnings from companies in the space.
The NASDAQ Composite eased 35.63 points to 6,753.50, on track for its biggest decline since August 17.
Wall Street also parsed through mixed results from retail companies. Shares of Kohl's dropped more than 6% in early trade. The company posted earnings per share that missed analyst expectations.
Macy's, meanwhile, reported a steep decline in same-store sales but tighter inventory controls helped boost profit margins. Macy's shares rose more than 2%
Later on Thursday, Disney, Nvidia, and News Corp. will release their quarterly results. Media stocks have been in the spotlight recently as talks about deal making pick up. Earlier this week, media reported that 21st Century Fox has been in talks to sell most of its company to Disney. As for chip maker Nvidia, its stock has been on fire this year, rising 95%.
Earnings have been mostly strong this season. According to FactSet, 73% of S&P 500 companies that have reported have surpassed earnings expectations.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were lower, raising yields to 2.34% from Wednesday’s 2.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
On the data front, weekly U.S. jobless claims totaled 239,000 last week, above the expected 232,000. Wholesale trade numbers were slated for release later this morning.
Oil prices surged 49 cents a barrel to $57.30 U.S.
Gold prices gained $1.10 an ounce to $1,284.80 U.S.
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