Equities in Canada’s largest market opened lower on Thursday, dragged down by the energy sector as hopes of a recovery in fuel demand were dampened by record-high U.S. crude inventories and a surge in global coronavirus cases.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 75.81 points to begin Thursday at 15,218.57.
The Canadian dollar pointed higher 0.08 cents to 73.37 cents U.S.
BlackBerry reported quarterly revenue below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, as demand for its QNX software used in cars was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic that severely bruised the auto industry. BlackBerry shares docked 29 cents, or 4.3%, soon after the open to $6.40.
Scotiabank cut the target price on Cineplex to $15.00 from $35.00. The much-maligned theatre chain lost 31 cents, or 2.9%, to $10.29.
Canaccord Genuity resumes coverage on Diversified Royalty Corp. with a buy rating and a price target of $2.75. Diversified shares fell a penny to $1.86.
CIBC starts coverage on Endeavour Mining with an outperform rating, and a target price of $40.00. Endeavour shares gained six cents to $32.13.
On matters macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported that, following a decline of almost one million payroll jobs in March, payroll employment fell by an additional 1,830,200 (or 11.4%) in April, bringing total losses since February to 2,769,500 (16.3%).
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 0.91 points to 585.70.
All but one of the 12 subgroups were negative in the first hour, with energy down 0.7%, while real-estate and information technology each descended 0.6%.
Gold was the lone stalwart, up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell for a second day on Thursday following the release of disappointing unemployment data while traders grappled with a rising number of coronavirus cases.
The Dow Jones Industrials settled 197.64 points, to begin Thursday at 25,248.30.
The S&P 500 doffed 21.07 points to 3,029.26.
The NASDAQ Composite dumped 73.98 points to 9,835.19.
More than 45,000 new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Wednesday, a record that surpassed the previous April 26 peak by over 9,000 cases. States such as Texas, Florida, California and Arizona have all seen major spikes. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut also ordered visitors from certain hotspot states to quarantine for 14 days.
This resurgence led Apple to re-close some stores in Houston, where intensive-care unit beds are near capacity. It also prompted Disney to delay the reopening of its California-based parks beyond July 17.
Shares of companies that would benefit from the economy reopening were under pressure. Airlines such as American, Delta and United all fell more than 2%. Norwegian Cruise Line slid 4.4%.
Those declines were somewhat offset by gains in major tech names. Facebook, Netflix and Apple all rose at least 0.5%. Amazon moved up 0.5% and Alphabet gained 0.2%.
Numbers out Thursday from the U.S. Labor Department revealed an additional 1.48 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week.
Economists expected a print of 1.35 million. This marks the second straight week that U.S. jobless claims data were worse than expected.
The Trump administration is considering new tariffs on $3.1 billion exports from France, Germany, Spain and the U.K., according to a notice from the U.S. Trade Representative released Tuesday evening. The new duties on olives, beer, gin and trucks can be up to 100%.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained ground, weighing yields down to 0.66% from Wednesday’s 0.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dished off a dime to $37.91 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subsided $2.20 to $1,772.90 U.S. an ounce.
