Markets in Canada’s biggest centre slid at first glance Wednesday, as losses in tech stocks overwhelmed even another mighty surge in health-care.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 37.44 points to open Wednesday at 16,094.35
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.22 cents to 78.57 cents U.S.
Among tech issues, BlackBerry declined 15 cents, or 1.1%, to $13.71
Among energy companies, Encana Corporation lost 44 cents, or 2.7%, to $15.87, while Trican Well Service slipped six cents, or 1.2%, to $5.15.
Health-care firms sang a merry tune, as Canopy Growth hiked $1.16, or 5.9%, to $20.92, while rival Aphria climbed 25 cents, or 3%, to $8.72.
In the gold patch, IAMGOLD Corporation zoomed 62 cents, or 8.4%, to $7.97, while Kinross Gold inched up two cents to $5.27.
On things macroeconomic, Statistics Canada revealed Wednesday that building permits rose in September for the first time in three months, as strength in the non-residential sector outweighed some weakness in the residential sector.
The agency says Canadian municipalities issued $7.9 billion worth of building permits in September, up 3.8% from the previous month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange squeaked up 0.71 points to 797.30
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split in Wednesday’s first hour, as health-care rallied 2.4%, while gold and consumer staples each climbed 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were led by information technology, down 1.1%, while energy faltered 0.5%, and consumer discretionaries slouched 0.4%. .
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Wednesday as a decline in bank stocks knocked the major indexes from record levels.
The Dow Jones industrial average dwindled 35.25 points to 23,521.98, with JPMorgan Chase among the worst-performing stocks in the index. JPMorgan fell 0.6% in early trade.
The S&P 500 slipped 3.49 points to 2,587.15, with energy and financials as the biggest declining sectors. Bank of America was among the worst performers, sliding 1.6%
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 4.82 points to 6,762.97
For the week, the three major indexes are on track to post modest gains as earnings season winds down.
Some of the companies that have reported this week include Snap and Lending Club, which fell sharply as its results disappointed investors.
This earnings season has been a strong one. With 87% of S&P 500 companies having reported, earnings have grown 6.4% year over year, as 74% of companies have surpassed Wall Street expectations
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were unchanged, keeping yields at Tuesday’s 2.31%.
Oil prices fell 39 cents a barrel to $56.81 U.S.
Gold prices recouped $8.50 an ounce to $1,284.30 U.S.
