Equities in Canada’s biggest market fell early Friday, with some major bank and energy stocks down as investors took a pause on a recent rally prompted by the U.S. Federal Reserve holding rates steady.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 26.32 points to open Friday’s trading session at 14,770.93. Even so, the index was on pace for a 2.2% hike on the week.
The Canadian dollar staggered 0.61 cents at 76.07 cents U.S.
China's central bank said National Bank of Canada has been approved to issue up to five billion yuan ($750 million) of RMB-denominated bonds in the country's interbank bond market.
National shares gave back 17 cents to $46.80 in the first hour of trade.
RBC raised the price target on Cascades Inc to $15.00 from $11.00. Shares in Canada’s largest bank dipped 43 cents to $81.45.
Raymond James cut the target price on Goldcorp to $22.00 from $24.00. Goldcorp shares were unchanged at $22.33
Raymond James raised the target price on Tahoe Resources to $24.50 from $22.25. Tahoe shares lost four cents to $18.43.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that inflation rose 1.1% in the 12 months leading to August, following a 1.3% hike in July.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index decreased 0.1% in August, after posting no change in July.
Elsewhere, retail sales inched down 0.1% to $44.1 billion in July, the third straight relatively unchanged month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 1.32 points to open Friday at 811.87, positioning the index for a 1.6% gain on the week.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower to start Friday, as financials dived 0.6%, real-estate slipped 0.5%, and telecoms gave back 0.3%.
The four gainers were led by gold and health-care, each acquiring 0.4%, and materials, up 0.2%.
ON WALL STREET
U.S. stocks traded slightly lower on Friday as investors digested a key economic data release and kept an eye on oil prices, following two strong sessions.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 52.32 points to 18,340.14, with Goldman Sachs falling the hardest
The S&P 500 faded 6.95 points to 2,170.23, with real-estate leading all sectors lower.
The NASDAQ Composite backtracked 22.39 points to 5,317.13. The three major indexes were still on track to post weekly gains.
In corporate news, Twitter's stock soared more than 15% after media reports the firm has received expressions of interest from several technology or media companies and may receive a formal bid shortly. The stock was also on pace to record its best trading day since July 30, 2014, when it gained nearly 20%.
The September read on the Markit Manufacturing Flash PMI came in at 51.4, below the August read of 52.0. IHS Markit, the firm that released the data, said that the September number marked seven years of continuous growth in manufacturing, but that the headline index was below the average seen over this period (54.0) and remained close to the post-crisis low recorded in May (50.7).
Prices for the 10-year Treasury suffered a slight loss, raising yields to 1.63% from Thursday’s 1.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell eight cents to $46.24 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dulled $2.20 at $1,342.50 U.S. an ounce.
