Equities in Canada’s largest market fell in early trade on Wednesday, weighed by energy stocks as oil prices retreated for a fourth straight day.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 73.26 points to open the midweek trading session at 15,839.87
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.56 cents to 78.23 cents U.S.
Teck Resources has reportedly held talks with Dominic Barton, the global managing partner of consulting firm McKinsey & Co, about becoming the Canadian miner's next chairman, replacing Norman Keevil.
Teck shares declined 59 cents, or 2.2%, to $26.38.
Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd has again appealed to the country's energy regulator, asking it to set up a process to resolve potential disagreements over local permits for its planned Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project.
Shares in Kinder dropped seven cents to $16.15.
CIBC raised the price target on Interrent REIT to $9.00 from $8.50. Units in Interrent increased in price 11 cents, or 1.3%, to $8.84.
National Bank cut the rating on Lithium Americas Corp. to sector perform from outperform. Lithium stock withered 48 cents, or 4.2%, to $10.90.
Ontario announced a tax cut for small businesses on Tuesday, as it said it is on track to balance the budget this year for the first time since the global financial crisis.
On the economic beat, the Canadian Real Estate Associationsaid national home sales rose 0.9% from September to October. Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity stood 4.3% below last October’s level.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sliced off 2.14 points to 792.81
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups fell in the first hour, with health-care waning 1.7%, energy reversing 1.5%, and industrials fading 0.6%.
The three gainers were consumer staples, up 0.6%, gold, ahead 0.5%, and utilities, inching up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower on Wednesday as the current bull market showed signs of slowing down.
The Dow Jones industrial average slouched 123.56 points to 23,285.91, with Caterpillar contributing the most to the losses.
The S&P 500 fell 14.92 points to 2,563.95, with energy declining 1.3%. Energy stocks were pressured by a drop in oil prices. The index was also pressured by declines in financials and consumer discretionary stocks.
The NASDAQ Composite swooned 42.37 points to 6,695.20, as tech stocks fell broadly. Tech has had a stellar year, helping lift the NASDAQ 24% higher in 2017.
The S&P and Dow are also up sharply for the year.
Consumer discretionary stocks fell nearly 1%, led lower by Target. The retailer's stock dropped 8% as its holiday forecast disappointed investors. Financials, meanwhile, fell 0.7% as Treasury yields declined (see below)
In economic news, retail sales rose 0.2% last month. Economists expected them to remain unchanged. Meanwhile, the consumer price index edged up 0.1% in October, in line with expectations.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground Wednesday, lowering yields to 2.34% from Tuesday’s 2.38%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 59 cents a barrel to $55.11 U.S.
Gold prices gained 60 cents to $1,283.50 U.S. an ounce.
