Canada's main stock index was subdued at the open on Thursday as top-level trade negotiations between United States and China resumed for the first time since late July.
The TSX Composite Index subsided 15.77 points to open for business Thursday at 16,364.10
The Canadian dollar restored 0.16 to 75.10 cents U.S.
Canopy Growth has appointed Constellation Brands Chief Financial Officer David Klein as the new chair of its board. Shares in Canopy slumped 97 cents, or 3.2%, to $29.48.
Scotiabank raised target price on Enbridge to $55.00 from $52.00. Enbridge tacked on 28 cents to $47.16.
CIBC cuts target price on NFI Group to $40.00 from $41.00. NFI shares ducked 19 cents to $27.66.
Evercore ISI cut the target price on Suncor Energy to $45.00 from $50.00. Suncor gained 26 cents to $39.18.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada’s new housing price gained 0.1% in August, the first increase since July 2018.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked higher 0.09 points to 550.69
All but two of the 12 Toronto subgroups were lower to begin Thursday’s session, with health-care ailing 2.1%, gold down 1.2%, and utilities off 0.7%.
The two gainers were energy, up 0.7%, and financials, in the green 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose to their session highs on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he will meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Friday, raising hope the two countries could make progress on the trade front.
The Dow Jones Industrials sprang out of the gate 149.99 points to 26,496.
The S&P 500 improved 16.06 points to 2,935.96
The NASDAQ Composite spiked 50.71 points to 7,954.61
In a tweet, Trump said: "Big day of negotiations with China. They want to make a deal, but do I? I meet with the Vice Premier tomorrow at The White House."
The tweet adds to confused reports as to the status of trade negotiations with Beijing. One report added that higher-level talks with Liu would now be only one day, with the China delegation planning to leave Washington on Thursday instead of Friday as scheduled. The issue of forced technology transfers, which China refused to put on the table, was the reason talks were at a standstill.
The New York Times also reported that the Trump administration is grant licenses for some U.S. companies to sell non-sensitive supplies to Huawei. Earlier this year, the White House had banned sales to the Chinese tech giant, citing national security concerns. The administration subsequently delayed the ban to allow U.S. businesses to make other arrangements.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 1.63% from Wednesday’s 1.58%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices enjoyed gains of 60 cents to $53.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subtracted $10.50 to $1,502.30 U.S. an ounce.
