Canada's main stock index struggled for direction on Wednesday, as an ongoing technology selloff, driven by AI-related worries weighing on software firms globally, offset broader advances led by consumer-focused stocks.
The TSX lost 99.09 points to move into noon hour EST at 32,289.51.
The Canadian dollar scaled back 0.19 cents at 73.13 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy beat fourth-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday as higher production helped offset the impact of weak commodity prices.
Suncor shares had gained 47 cents, to $73.32.
Among other individual movers, ATS climbed $2.08, or 5.4%, to $40.81 after the industrial automation firm's third-quarter revenue beat estimates.
Property management firm FirstService rose $10.90, or 5.2%, to $221.61, after fourth-quarter revenue slightly beat estimates.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dumped 33.46 points, or 3.2%, to 1,019.26.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher early Wednesday afternoon, led by consumer staples, up 2.8%, consumer discretionary, better by 2.5%, and real-estate, increasing 1.5%.
The three laggards were materials and information technology, each down 2.4%, and gold, off 2.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell on Wednesday as traders continued to move out of technology stocks and digested the latest labor market data.
The Dow Jones Industrials revived 271.24 points to 49,512.23.
The much broader index sagged 39.81 points to 6,878.
The NASDAQ stumbled 384.16 points to 22,872.05.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices weighed on the broader market, pulling back 16% after its first-quarter forecast underwhelmed some analysts.
Defending the results, CEO Lisa Su told the media Wednesday that the company has seen an increase in demand in recent months, saying, “AI is accelerating at a pace that I would not have imagined.”
Still, other names in the chips space such as Broadcom and Micron Technology suffered losses as well. The former was down 5%, while the latter fell 9%.
Some software stocks also continued to face pressure, with names such as Oracle and CrowdStrike extending their decline from the prior trading day. Oracle shed 4%, while CrowdStrike lost 1%. While the group has been a source of weakness recently, certain names like
Microsoft found stability Wednesday. That stock was up almost 1%.
Meanwhile, ADP on Wednesday released its monthly look at private payroll growth for January, which showed an increase of just 22,000 on the month. That’s below the gain of 45,000 jobs that economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast.
The release generally precedes the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on nonfarm payrolls, but that won’t be out this week due to the partial government shutdown. The shutdown, which began Saturday, officially ended Tuesday, when President Donald Trump signed a funding bill into law.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury eked up, lowering yields back to Tuesday’s 4.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 43 cents to $63.64 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices leaped $3.60 to $4,938.60 U.S. an ounce.
