Stock futures for Canada's main equity index edged lower on Wednesday as oil prices fell due to an increase in U.S. crude inventories and on demand worries related to the U.S.-China trade war.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fainted 101.60 points to open at 16,324.87
The Canadian dollar gained 0.13 cents to 74.74 cents
Barrick Gold said on Tuesday it has proposed to acquire all of the shares it does not already own in Acacia Mining Plc through a share-for-share exchange of 0.153 Barrick shares for each ordinary share of Acacia.
Barrick lost seven cents in the first hour to $16.18.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce missed quarterly profit estimates, as sluggish loan growth and higher loan loss provisions in retail banking more than offset gains in its capital markets business.
Commerce shares fell $2.91, or 2.6, to $109.21.
RBC cut the rating on Franco-Nevada Corp. to sector perform from outperform. Franco-Nevada faded $1.35, or 1.3%, to $100.48.
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on Osisko Gold Royalties to $17.00 from $17.50. Osisko shares gathered a penny to $13.50.
TD Securities raised the target price on Premium Brands Holdings to $96.00 from $93.00. Premium shares backpedaled $1.29, or 1.5%, to $83.51.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada says retail trade increased for the second consecutive month, rising 1.1% to $51.3 billion in March. Sales were higher in seven of 11 sub-sectors, representing 39% of retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged forward 1.32 points to 613.73.
All but two of the 12 Toronto subgroups were negative to start the day, with energy down 1.3%, materials fading 0.8%, and industrials off 0.7%
The two gainers were health-care, up 0.5%, and information technology picked up 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks pulled back on Wednesday as trade worries increased while declines in Qualcomm and retailer shares also dampened market sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrials were down 62.49 points to open Wednesday at 25,814.84, as Apple lagged.
The S&P 500 decreased 6.34 points to 2,858.02, with the tech sector sliding 0.4%.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 17.65 points to 7,768.07.
Qualcomm shares fell 9.5% after a U.S. judge ruled the chipmaker violated antitrust law by unlawfully suppressing competition in the cellphone chip space.
Shares of Qualcomm have been under pressure all month, falling 9.7% through Tuesday’s close.
Retailers were also under pressure after the release of quarterly results from companies in the sector. Lowe’s fell more than 8% on weaker-than-expected earnings. Nordstrom, meanwhile, dropped 7.9% as its quarterly earnings and revenue missed expectations.
Target was the bright spot among retailers. The company’s stock rose more than 8% as its earnings and revenue topped analyst expectations. Same-store sales, a key metric for retailers, also surpassed estimates.
Investors also looked ahead to the release of the U.S. central bank’s meeting minutes. The Federal Reserve is expected to provide insights into the May 1 meeting, when policymakers left interest rates unchanged and signaled little appetite to adjust them any time soon.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that a trip to Beijing to retake trade negotiations has not been scheduled yet. This lowered hope of a speedy resolution to the U.S.-China trade war.
President Donald Trump followed through with his threat to increase tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods from 10% to 25% earlier this month. China immediately responded by upping the tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods to as high as 25%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 2.4% from Tuesday’s 2.43%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked 56 cents to $62.57 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices picked up 40 cents to $1,273.60 U.S. an ounce.
