Stocks in Canada’s largest centre fell slightly in early trade on Wednesday, with Bank of Montreal shares off after the company's earnings missed estimates and investors awaiting a Bank of Canada interest rate decision and minutes from the last U.S Federal Reserve meeting.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index eased off 21.41 points, to open Wednesday at 15,455.53
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 73.99 cents U.S.
Bank of Montreal reported an 11% increase in second-quarter earnings, benefiting from a strong performance in its wealth management and capital markets businesses.
BMO shares trailed yesterday’s close by $2.44, or 2.6%, to $92.69,
Champion Iron is continuing with its plans to bring Quebec's giant Bloom Lake iron ore mine back to life. Champion shares gave back two cents, or 2.1%, to 93 cents.
Home Capital said on Tuesday it had drawn down an additional $250 million from a high interest credit line to repay a debt due on Wednesday. Home shares lost nine cents, or nearly 1%, to $9.15.
BMO raised the price target on Sabina Gold & Silver to $2.40 from $1.70, with an outperform rating. Sabina shares docked a penny to $1.82.
RBC raised the price target on CAE Inc. to $22 from $20, with a sector perform rating. CAE shares took on a penny to $21.32.
Desjardins upgrades the rating on Jean Coutu Group to hold from sell. Coutu shares hiked 32 cents, or 1.5%, to $21.90.
On the economic calendar, the Bank of Canada is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 0.5%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 0.75% and the deposit rate is 0.25%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 1.24 points to 804.91
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, however slightly. Gold gained 0.4%, while industrials and materials forged ahead 0.2% each.
The five laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 0.3%, while consumer discretionary and consumer staples each lost 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 erasing losses from its biggest sell-off of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrials Average gained 27.77 points to 20,965.68, with Boeing contributing the most gains and Home Depot the most losses.
The S&P 500 moved higher 1.96 points to 2,400.38, with information technology leading advancers, and traded above its May 16 close of 2,400.67 to wipe out losses from last Wednesday.
Retail capped gains in the S&P, however, as Tiffany, Signet Jewlers, Advanced Auto Parts and Lowe's were among the five-worst performers in the index.
The NASDAQ recovered 5.83 points to 6,138.71, as Apple and the so-called FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet) all traded higher.
But the release of the Federal Reserve minutes at 2 p.m. ET could lead to some market turbulence. Investors were eager to receive more clues about its plans for monetary policy.
In other economic news, total mortgage application volume increased 4.4% last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week thanks largely to re-financings. More housing data will be released at 10 a.m., when existing home sales numbers come out.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were unchanged, keeping yields at Tuesday’s 2.29%.
Oil prices were flat at $51.47 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dropped $3.60 at $1,251.90 U.S. an ounce.
