Stocks in Toronto dragged lower by financial stocks following a downgrade by Moody's on Canada's six biggest banks, and loyalty program operator Aimia Inc, which plunged on news Air Canada will launch its own program.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 8.8 points to kick things off Thursday at 15,624.41
The Canadian dollar fell 0.33 to 72.29 cents U.S.
Bombardier Executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin will reportedly step down, following shareholder outcry over controversial executive pay hikes, and reported a smaller-than-expected adjusted net loss.
Bombardier shares jumped 13 cents, or 6.3%, on the news to $2.18.
Even as the world's largest energy companies exit Canada's high-cost oil sands, Suncor Energy is lining up its next phase of growth in the world's third-largest crude reserves. Suncor shares gained four cents to $43.67.
Canadian Tire Corp reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit on Thursday, helped by strong demand for its apparel and home products as well as higher margins at its financial business.
Canadian Tire took on 35 cents to $166.61.
National Bank of Canada raised the rating on Cascades Inc. to outperform from sector perform. Cascades shares descended 48 cents in price, or 2.9%, to $15.89.
CIBC raised the target price on Franco-Nevada Corp. to $105 from $95. Franco-Nevada shares hiked $1.17, or 1.2%, to $95.25.
Barclays cut the target price on Sun Life Financial to $52.00 from $54.00. Sun Life shares tumbled 59 cents, or 1.3%, to $46.64.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index rose 0.2% in March compared with the previous month. Higher new house prices in Vancouver and Toronto led the gain.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange acquired 3.3 points, or 1.2%, to 786.54
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive to begin the day, with gold soaring 2%, materials better by 0.9%, and health-care haler 0.5%.
The three laggards were financials, down 0.7%, real-estate, skidding 0.3%, and consumer staples, stumbling 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded lower on Thursday as investors digested quarterly results from Macy's and Snap. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ composite also pulled back from record territory.
The Dow Jones Industrials Average plummeted 110.87 points to 20.832.24, with Home Depot contributing the most losses.
The S&P 500 inched faded 13.15 points to 2,386.51, with consumer discretionary falling more than 1% to lead decliners.
The NASDAQ hesitated 40.25 points to 6,089.07,
Macy’s posted adjusted earnings of 24 cents per share and revenue of $5.34 billion. Analysts expected the retailer to report earnings per share of 35 cents on sales of $5.47 billion.
The retailer's stock has been under pressure all year. Entering Thursday's session, it was down 18.1%
Moreover, social media company Snap also reported quarterly results, marking the first time doing so since going public. Snapchat's parent company reported sales of $150 million, with Reuters estimating a loss of 20 cents a share. The disappointing results sent the stock reeling more than 20% before the bell.
In economic news, the producer price index rose 0.5% in April, more than the expected increase of 0.2%. Initial jobless claims, meanwhile, totaled 236,000, below the expected 245,000.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note enjoyed slight gains, lowering yields to 2.4% from Wednesday’s 2.41%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped 33 cents at $47.66 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices picked up $4.90 at $1,223.80 U.S. an ounce.
