Stocks in Toronto survived something of a roller-coaster Wednesday, to finish slightly in the green, as gold strength carried the day against losses in health-care issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved into positive territory, albeit by only 1.34 points by the end of Wednesday to 15,133.12
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.10 cents at 75.52 U.S.
Gold stocks mounted the podium on the top wrung, as Tahoe Resources, rallied $1.40, or 48.1%, to finish at $4.30, after Pan American Silver Corp agreed to buy the miner for $1.07 billion in a cash-and-stock deal.
Pan American, which fell $1.94, or 10.4%, to $16.77, was among the biggest decliners on Canada's main index.
Elsewhere in gold, Barrick Gold collected 50 cents, or 3%, to $16.94.
Elsewhere in materials, First Majestic Silver gained 44 cents, or 6.7%, to $6.91.
Energy stocks also boasted gains, as Suncor gushed $1.30, or 3%, to $44.39, while Canadian Natural Resources, up 36 cents, or 1%, to $36.43.
Canada Goose Holdings Inc jumped $7.53, or 9.7%, to $85.02, making it among the biggest gainers on the TSX, after the luxury apparel maker reported better-than-expected quarterly profit as revenue from its online and branded stores more than doubled, helping it raise its forecast for the full year.
The health-care sector fell, the most among the three sectors that were trading lower, weighed by a drop in shares of cannabis producers.
Canopy Growth declined $5.76, or 11.3%, to $45.13, after posting a bigger-than-expected quarterly net loss. Elsewhere in the health-care sector, Bausch Health Companies faded 19 cents to $35.07.
In real-estate, Colliers International Group lost 60 cents to $83.50.
Financials were on the weak side as well, as Sun Life chucked 40 cents to $48.43, while Royal Bank of Canada dropped 50 cents to $95.25.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 7.21 points, or 1.2%., to 619.21
The 12 subgroups were evenly divided, with gold shining brighter 3.2%, while materials hiked 1.3%, and energy advanced 1.2%
The half-dozen laggards were weighed heavily by health-care, slumping 5.4%, real-estate 0.6% less solid, and financials 0.2% to the bad.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Wednesday as shares of Apple rolled over and dipped briefly into a bear market before recovering. A decline in bank shares also pressured the broader market.
The Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 205.99 points to finish Wednesday at 25,080.50
The S&P 500 fell 20.6 points to 2,701.58, clinching its fifth straight day of losses. The broad index is now in the red for the month of November following October's 7% tumble.
The NASDAQ slumped 64.48 points to 7,136.39.
Apple fell 2.8% and briefly traded 20% below its all-time high, dipping into a bear market. The decline comes after Guggenheim downgraded the stock and UBS cut its iPhone estimates. Investors have been worried the company's iPhone sales will slow down in the near future. The stock had traded higher earlier on Wednesday and closed 19.9% from its record high reached earlier this year.
Bank stocks were punished, after Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters said the Trump administration's efforts to curb banking regulations "will come to an end." Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup all traded lower.
Market sentiment was also hurt by comments from New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell. In an interview with Bloomberg News, the Democrat lawmaker said the updated trade deal between the U.S., Canada and Mexico needs to be changed before it can pass through Congress.
Oil stocks prospered, led by gains in Apache and ConocoPhillips. Both stocks rose more than 3%.
Investors breathed a sigh of relief, however, as the latest data showed U.S. inflation is still tame.
The consumer price index rose 0.3% in October — in line with expectations — boosted by higher gasoline prices, used cars and housing. The so-called core CPI, which strips out food and energy costs, missed estimates on an annualized basis, coming in at 2.1%. This is also lower than a previous reading of 2.2%.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury regained lost ground, lowering yields to 3.13% from Tuesday’s 3.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices rose 36 cents to $56.05 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices popped $10.60 at $1,212 U.S. an ounce.
