Equities in Canada’s biggest market opened slightly lower on Thursday, as precious metal miners gained on rising gold prices and financial stocks were supported by Toronto-Dominion Bank.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index subsided 5.46 points to begin Thursday’s session at 16,128.34
The Canadian dollar again plummeted 0.44 cents at 77.44 cents U.S.
Royal Bank of Canada posted an 11% rise in its second-quarter earnings, helped by strong growth at its wealth management and retail businesses. Royal shares ditched $1.33, or 1.3%, to $99.79.
Toronto-Dominion Bank on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings which were ahead of market expectations, benefiting from a strong performance at its domestic retail business. TD shares grew 84 cents, or 1.1%, to $76.34.
Canada has blocked a proposed $1.51-billion takeover of construction company Aecon Group by a Chinese state builder on national security grounds, underscoring rising wariness of Chinese firms buying up assets in Western countries. RBC cut its price target on Aecon to $17.00 from $20.00.
Aecon shares dumped $2.58, or 14.9%, to $14.76.
Barclays raised the price target on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to $138.00 from $133.00. CIBC shares lost 45 cents to $114.64.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that in March, 471,500 people received regular Employment Insurance benefits, down 7,300 (-1.5%) from February. The agency says the decline continues a downward trend in the number of beneficiaries that began in the autumn of 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped back 0.17 points to 780.85
The 12 TSX subgroups were split down the middle, with gold gaining 1.4%, materials better by 0.8%, and information technology 1.7% to the good.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care and energy stocks, each down 0.9%, while consumer discretionary stocks slid 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell sharply Thursday after President Donald Trump announced that the hotly anticipated summit next month with North Korea was cancelled.
The meeting would have been the first face-to-face encounter between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 159.64 points to 24,727.17 immediately after the announcement, with Goldman Sachs and Chevron leading the index lower.
The S&P 500 slumped 17.8 points to 2,715.49, as a continued drop in oil prices dragged down energy stocks.
The NASDAQ handed back 41.84 points to 7,384.54, amid losses in Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Intel.
News of the cancellation came shortly after the Commerce Department said that it started an investigation into whether automobile imports "threaten to impair the national security" of the United States.
Shares of electronics and technology retailer Best Buy fell more than 5% Thursday morning after the company reported quarterly earnings. Though the company posted solid quarterly comparable sales and earnings, its online sales growth decelerated.
Domestic online comparable sales growth slowed to 12% growth in the U.S. from a year ago, compared to 22.5% growth.
Best Buy's chief financial officer, Corie Barry, added that the company is not upgrading its full fiscal year outlook during the earnings conference call.
All signs continued to point at a tight labour market, with Thursday's data on new applications for U.S. unemployment rising just slightly to 234,000 for the week ended May 19.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were higher, lowering yields to 2.97% from Wednesday’s 2.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 72 cents at $71.12 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $15.90 at $1,305.50 U.S. an ounce.
