Equities in Canada’s financial capital overcame early on Wednesday, despite losses for financials and materials stocks as investors remained cautious about the health of global economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved higher 17.18 points to begin Wednesday at 13,724.86
The Canadian dollar slid 0.58 cents to 78.01 cents U.S.
Shopify Inc., a maker of software that helps retailers set up and manage online stores, said its loss widened in the first quarter from the fourth quarter as operating expenses rose.
Shopify shares docked $1.10, or 2.8%, to $38.09.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc reported a first-quarter profit, compared with a year-ago loss, helped by higher earnings in its meat products business.
Maple Leaf shares climbed $1.88, or 7.2%, to $28.12.
BMO raised the target price on Baytex Energy to $6.00 from $5.50, with an underperform rating.
Baytex shares triumphed 31 cents, or 5.3%, to $6.22.
National Bank Financial raised the target price on IAMGOLD to $4.40 from $4.10, with a sector perform rating.
IAMGOLD, trading under IMG, saw its shares gain 14 cents, or 3.4%, to $4.22.
BMO raised the target price on Westjet Airlines to $25 from $22.00 with an outperform rating. Westjet shares lost 38 cents, or 1.9%, to $19.97.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that our exports fell 4.8% to $41 billion in March, while our imports dipped 2.4% to $44.4 billion. As a result, Canada’s trade deficit with the rest of the world widened from $2.5 billion in February to a record $3.4 billion in March.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased 1.76 points to 660.61
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups started out positive, with health-care haler by 1.4%, energy 1.1% more energetic, and the metals and mining sector up 0.7%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, duller in price by 0.4%, financials, trailing off 0.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrials let go of 25.75 points to 17,725.16. Chevron was among the top contributors to gains, while Goldman Sachs was among those with the greatest negative impact.
The S&P 500 shed 8.15 points to 2,055.22. Energy was among the few S&P 500 advancers.
The NASDAQ Composite Index slipped 14.64 points to 4,748.58,
On the economic slate, the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing sector for April was 55.7, above expectations and rising from March's 54.5 print.
The final April read on Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 52.8 from 51.3 in March.
Factory orders rose 1.1%. Moreover, the March U.S. trade deficit was $40.4 billion. First quarter productivity declined at an annual rate of 1%.
Ahead of the highly anticipated non-farm payrolls report due Friday, the ADP employment report for April missed expectations with a decline from the prior month to 156,000.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded a bit, raising yields to 1.81% from Tuesday’s 1.8%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices regained $1.04 a barrel to $44.69 U.S.
Gold prices lost $4.25 to $1,282.25 U.S. an ounce.
