Equities in Canada’s largest market took some knocks Thursday afternoon, but still out ahead, largely the result of strength in petroleum and food stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index stayed positive 22.79 points to finish Thursday at 15,194.04
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.02 cents at 75.29 U.S.
Among energy stalwarts, Suncor gained 39 cents to $43.64, while Canadian Natural Resources hiked $1.12, or 3.5%, to $33.48.
Among consumer staples, Metro gained 30 cents to $45.75, while Empire Company took on 38 cents, or 1.5%, to $25.31.
Consumer discretionary stocks moved forward, too, as Magna International got lift of 87 cents, or 1.3%, to $65.98.
Health-care stocks took a pounding, though, as Aphria was down 79 cents, or nearly 7%, to $10.56. Canopy Growth jettisoned $1.03, or 2.3%, to $44.07.
Gold stocks fell off, as Kinross was unchanged at $3.62, while Goldcorp lost 10 cents to $12.52
Among real-estate issues, Colliers International Group deducted $1.18, or 1.4%, to $86.44, while Brookfield Asset Management slid eight cents to $58.81.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported Thursday morning that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,004 in September, little changed from the previous month.
Compared with 12 months earlier, says the agency, earnings increased 1.8%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped but 0.57 points to finish Thursday at 591.12
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, as energy towered 1.9%, consumer staples grew 1.2%, and consumer discretionary triumphed 0.9%
The half-dozen laggards were led by health-care, sagging 1.6%, while gold lost 0.7%, and real-estate dipped 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks closed lower on Thursday as hopes of a trade deal being struck between China and the U.S. dimmed.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 27.59 points to 25,338.84, snapping a three-day winning streak.
The S&P 500 slid 5.99 points to 2,737.80, and closed lower for the first time in four days.
The NASDAQ dipped 18.51 points to 7,273.08
Shares of Dick's Sporting Goods fell 4.7% after J.P. Morgan downgraded them to neutral from overweight. Boeing's stock bucked the negative trend, rising 2.7% after Cowen named it its number-one aerospace stock for 2019.
Media reports swirled Thursday that White House advisor Peter Navarro would be attending the dinner between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires at the G-20.
News of his attendance dampened hopes that a trade deal could be hatched at the dinner given his longstanding hawkish tone on U.S.-China trade. Earlier this month, Navarro said any deal between the U.S. and China would be on Trump's terms, not Wall Street's.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet at the upcoming G-20 summit in Argentina on Saturday. The two leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing trade dispute between their countries.
The U.S. has implemented tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods this year. China has responded with tariffs of its own on U.S. goods. The ongoing spat has sent ripples across financial markets as investors assess its impact on corporate earnings and the economy.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose sharply, thus lowering yields to 3.03% from Wednesday’s 3.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired $1.10 to $51.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skidded 80 cents at $1,229.00 U.S. an ounce.
