Equities in Toronto fell on Wednesday as lower metal prices weighed on mining stocks, offsetting gains for financials after one of the country's major banks reported slightly higher-than-expected quarterly results.
The S&P/TSX Composite hesitated 11.84 points to begin Wednesday at 14,752.93
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 77.44 cents U.S.
Royal Bank of Canada on Wednesday reported third-quarter results that beat market expectations, with funds set aside to cover bad loans falling thanks to higher oil prices.
RBC shares gathered 17 cents to $82.40.
Barclays raised the rating on Alimentation Couche-Tard to overweight from equal weight
Couche-Tard shares gained 68 cents, or 1%, to $67.38.
CIBC raised the target price on Bank of Montreal to $88.00 from $85.00 with a sector perform rating
BMO shares marched ahead 31 cents to $86.58.
National Bank Financial upped the target on Alterra Power to $0.80 from $0.75, with an outperform rating
Alterra shares gained one cent, or 1.5%, to 70 cents.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 7.08 points to 810.71
The 12 subgroups were evenly divided between winners and losers, with health-care vaulting 0.9%, while consumer staples and financials each climbed 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, down 2.4%, materials, shedding 1.8%, and real-estate, lower by 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Wednesday after the release of existing home sales data while investors eagerly awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled out of the gate, losing 26.51 points at 18,520.79, with IBM and Home Depot contributing the most losses.
The S&P 500 slid 2.59 points to 2,184.31
The NASDAQ Composite dipped 0.86 points to 5,259.22, after briefly struggling for gains.
In corporate news, RBC reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with funds set aside to cover bad loans falling thanks to higher oil prices.
La-Z-Boy reported a 1.9% drop in same-store sales for its fiscal first quarter. The firm also posted adjusted earnings of 28 cents a share on revenue of $341 million U.S., missing expectations. La-Z-Boy shares fell more than 13% in early trade.
Meanwhile, Nimble Storage shares rose 4% after releasing quarterly results.
Economically speaking, existing home sales for July fell 3.2%, more than expected. New home sales data, released Tuesday, reached their highest level in almost nine years.
Investors also watched oil markets, with U.S. crude falling more than 1.5% in early trade after API data showed a surprise build in crude stockpiles. The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release weekly inventories data at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Analysts expect the EIA data to show a build of 200,000 crude barrels and a 1.6-million-barrel draw in gasoline stocks.
Yellen is scheduled to speak on the U.S. economy and monetary policy Friday at 11 a.m. ET against a backdrop of recent hawkish rhetoric from two of her top lieutenants, New York Fed President William Dudley and Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury retreated slightly, raising yields to 1.56% from Tuesday’s 1.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 49 cents a barrel to $47.61 U.S.
Gold prices fell $14.90 at $1,331.20 U.S. an ounce.
