Stocks in Canada’s biggest market slipped in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by losses for financial stocks and major energy names, while higher bullion prices helped gold miners limit the overall fall.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 61.78 points to kick off Wednesday’s session at 15,317.97
The Canadian dollar climbed 0.31 cents to 75.85 cents U.S.
Thomson Reuters plans to release a tool on Wednesday that will allow customers to plug its market data into systems that run on the digital ledger technology known as blockchain.
Thomson shares progressed 15 cents to $59.00.
Cowen and Co cut the target price on Canopy Growth Corp. to $10.00 from $15.00. Canopy shares docked two cents to $7.74.
National Bank started coverage on Petrus Resources with an outperform rating and a $3.00 target price. Petrus shares jumped 15 cents, or 7.3%, to $2.20.
Cowen and Co cut the price target on Hudson's Bay Co. to $9.00 from $12.00, and a market perform rating. Bay shares lost two cents to $8.61.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 3.54 points to 789.08
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower to begin the session, with energy swooning 1.5%, financials off 0.6%, and information technology down 0.5%.
The five gainers were led by gold, sprinting 1.1%, materials, up 0.3%, and utilities, up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities kicked off Wednesday trading slightly higher as investors braced themselves for the latest monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials subtracted 0.44 points at 21,328.03, as UnitedHealth contributed the most gains.
The S&P 500 docked 1.72 points to 2,438.63, with utilities leading advancers.
The NASDAQ inched up 0.59 points to 6,220.96.
The Fed is largely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points, but investors will likely key on what the central bank says about U.S. inflationary pressures.
The Fed's preferred inflation measure, the PCE deflator, came in at a weaker 1.5%, well below the Fed's 2% inflation target.
The latest consumer price index reading, released Wednesday, fell 0.1%. Economists expected CPI to rise 0.2%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were sharply higher, lowering yields to 2.13% from Tuesday’s 2.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 37 cents to $46.09 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices progressed $8.80 at $1,277.40 U.S. an ounce.
