Canada's main stock index fell at open on Thursday, as shares of plane-and-train maker Bombardier Inc tumbled after the company cut its full-year profit forecast.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 50.53 points to begin Thursday trading at 16,535.99
The Canadian dollar lopped off 0.01 cents at 74.10 cents U.S.
Bombardier cut its full-year profit and revenue forecast, as delays in some large projects hit its dominant transportation unit that makes rail cars.
Bombardier tumbled 38 cents, or 12.7%, to $2.54.
JP Morgan raised the target price on Cenovus Energy to $16.00 from $15.00. Cenovus docked 17 cents, or 1.2%, to $13.57.
Credit Suisse raised the price target on Hydro One to $20.00 from $19.00. Hydro One shares fell two cents to $21.38.
CIBC raised the price target on TFI International to $47.00 from $44.00. TFI shares doffed 26 cents to $45.29.
On the economic board, Statistics Canada says average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,007 in February, little changed from the previous month. Compared with 12 months earlier, earnings grew by 1.1%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.02 points to 609.26
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups lurched lower in the first hour, as consumer discretionary and health-care stocks each fell 0.7%, and energy was 0.6% less energetic.
The three gainers were gold, brighter by 1.2%, materials, improving 0.4%, while consumer staples nicked 0.1% higher.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped on Thursday as a sharp decline in 3M shares dragged the 30-stock index.
The Dow lost 203.5 points to 26,393.55, of 3M dropped 10.3% after the company reported earnings that were much lower than analysts had expected. The company also slashed its full-year outlook and announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide.
The S&P 500 slid 2.41 points to 2,924.84, as the industrials sector was dragged down by 3M. A 4.2% drop in Altria shares also weighed on the 500 as the consumer staples sector fell 0.9%.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 32.99 to 8,135.01, and hit an all-time high, getting a boost from strong quarterly reports out of Facebook and Microsoft.
Facebook shares rose more than 8% after its first-quarter numbers showed promising growth in Stories and ads.
The analyst also raised his price target on Facebook to $220 per share from $200.
Microsoft, meanwhile, climbed more than 4% as its better-than-expected earnings were driven by a 41% surge in its commercial cloud revenue business. That growth was led by Azure, which saw sales skyrocket by 73%.
More than 170 S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results so far. Of those companies, 78% have posted better-than-expected earnings.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury were marginally down, raising yields to 2.53% from Wednesday’s 2.52%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered five cents to $65.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $3.60 to $1,283.00 U.S. an ounce.
