Markets in Toronto opened lower on Thursday, weighed by falling oil prices, while bleak domestic exports and imports data in April further dented sentiment.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 68.14 points to commence trading on Thursday at 15,506.97
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.11 cents at 73.95 cents U.S.
Telus Corp said director Stockwell Day had stepped down from its board a day after the former cabinet minister compared enduring racism to his experience of being teased in school for wearing glasses.
Telus shares gained two cents to $24.55.
BMO resumes coverage on Sabina Gold & Silver with an outperform rating, and a $3.00 target price. Sabina shares gained three cents, or 1.6%, to $1.86.
TD Securities cut the rating on National Bank of Canada to hold from buy. National shares sifted off 42 cents to $64.61.
Scotiabank cut the target price on Transat AT to $8.00 from $13.50. Transat shares climbed 14 cents, or 2.2%, to $6.60.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 5.89 points in the first hour, or 1.1%, to 563.67.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative, with consumer discretionary stocks slumping 1.4%, energy paling 1.3%, and financials off 1%.
The two gainers were gold, up 2.3%, and materials, better by 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ-100 index rose to a record high on Thursday, becoming the first major U.S. stock index to fully erase its losses from the coronavirus pandemic sell-off.
The Dow Jones Industrials took a breather from the dizzy heights to which it had climbed this week, and lost 8.26 points to open at 26,261.63.
The S&P 500 settled 2.49 points to 3,120.38.
Thursday’s decline was kept in check by gains in stocks that benefit from the economy reopening. American Airlines rallied more than 9% while United Airlines advanced 6.5%. Wynn Resorts traded 2.4% higher. MGM Resorts traded 3.4% higher.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 11.62 points to 9,694.53. The index is made up of the 100-largest non-financial stocks in the NASDAQ Composite, traded 0.3% higher. Shares of eBay gained 6.2%, and United Airlines, picking up 4.1%, were among the best performers in the NASDAQ 100.
Through the month’s first three sessions, the Dow was up nearly 3.5% while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 were both up at least 2%.
Amazon, Tesla, Netflix and Costco — shares that have led the index’s run back to record levels — also traded higher.
The Labor Department said 1.877 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, topping a Dow Jones estimate of 1.775 million. Continuing jobless claims rose sharply, nearly reaching 21.5 million. The data was released a day ahead of the department’s monthly jobs report.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 0.81% from Wednesday’s 0.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tailed off 62 cents to $36.67 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $8.40 to $1,713.20 U.S. an ounce.
