Equities in Toronto gave back some of their strength by the closing bell on Wednesday, weighed by a hefty loss in the price of Rogers Communications stock.
The TSX Composite Index lost 55.59 points to end Wednesday at 16,335.93
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.11 cents at 76.49 cents U.S.
Communications issues were hit particularly hard, as Rogers capsized $5.39, or 8.1%, to $61.00 after lowering its full-year revenue forecast, triggering a sharp decline in the communication services index. Elsewhere, BCE docked $2.75, or 4.3%, to $61.15
In real-estate, FirstService stumbled $11.70, or 8.5%, to $125.93, and Altus Group doffed $2.01, or 5.3%, to $35.88.
In consumer staples, Empire Company faded 61 cents, or 1.7%, to $34.41, while Metro ditched 69 cens, or 1.3%, to $55.20.
Health-care stocks tried to balance things out, as Cronos Group jumped 56 cents, or 5.2%, to $11.42, while Aphria advanced 29 cents, or 4.6%, to $6.60.
In gold, Eldorado Gold jumped 52 cents, or 2.3%, to $10.30, and B2 Gold, collecting nine cents, or 2.2%, to $4.25.
In materials, Hudbay Minerals climbed 19 cents, or 4.1%, to $4.82, while West Fraser Timber jumped $2.49, or 4.5%, to $58.12.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales declined 1.2% to $64.3 billion in August, largely offsetting the 1.4% gain in July. Declines were recorded in five of seven sub-sectors, representing 85% of wholesale sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 2.57 points to 543.04
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups were lower Wednesday, with communications stumbling 5%, while real-estate dropped 1.1%, consumer staples were off 0.5%.
The four gainers were led by health-care, which took on 1.5%, gold, brighter by 0.9%, and materials, up 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose slightly on Wednesday as investors digested earnings reports from Caterpillar and Boeing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average 45.85 points to finish Wednesday at 26,833.95
The S&P 500 picked up 8.53 points to 3,004.52. Wednesday’s nudged the index closer to a record set in July. It is less than 1% from that level.
The NASDAQ Composite was up 15.5 at 8,119,79
Caterpillar said it earned $2.66 per share in the third quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 per share. Revenue came in at $12.758 billion, while Wall Street expected revenue of $13.572 billion. The heavy machinery manufacturer lowered its full-year earnings per share forecast to a range of $10.59 and $11.09, lower than the expected $11.70.
The stock closed 1.2% higher, however, after falling more than 6% in the pre-market.
Meanwhile, Boeing shares climbed 1% after the airplane maker said it will stick to its timeline for the return of the 737 Max. That was enough to offset earnings that badly missed analyst expectations. The company reported a profit of $1.45 per share. Analysts expected a profit of $2.09.
Weak results from Texas Instruments weighed kept stocks in check, however. Texas instruments — which is often seen as a proxy for the microchip industry — plunged 7.5% after posting fourth-quarter guidance well below market estimates.
Texas Instruments’ losses dragged down the broader chipmaker space.
ON Semiconductor dropped 3.6% while Qualcomm lost 1.6%.
Ford, Microsoft, and Tesla are among those scheduled to report their latest quarterly figures after market close.
Despite the weak results, the third-quarter earnings season has largely topped analyst expectations. Of the 118 S&P 500 companies that have reported, 81% have posted better-than-expected results
The Federal Reserve announced earlier this month it will purchase more $60 billion a month in Treasury bills to prevent liquidity crunches that took place earlier this year. The U.S. central bank is also expected to cut rates for a third time this year.
In Europe, U.K. lawmakers voted in favor of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit plan, but rejected his attempt to fast-track legislation to take the country out of the E.U. by the end of the month. The prime minister said the next step would be to wait for the EU to respond to a request to delay the current Brexit deadline of October 31.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury lost ground, raising yields back to Tuesday’s 1.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered $1.36 to $55.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained seven dollars to $1,494.50 U.S. an ounce.
