Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday, a day after hitting its highest since February, as traders booked profits ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, while weakness in energy stocks further dented sentiment.
The TSX faded 1.5 points to break for lunch during Wednesday’s session at 17,272.75.
The Canadian dollar eased 0.04 cents to 76.91 cents U.S.
Canada Goose Holdings fell $3.84, or 7.7%, the most on the TSX, to $46.38, after brokerage BTIG downgraded the apparel maker's stock.
The second biggest decliner was Aurora Cannabis, down 77 cents, or 6.4%, to $11.22, after the pot producer signed a supply agreement with Israel's Cantek Holdings.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were BRP, which jumped $1.41, or 2.1%, to $69.44, after the powersports vehicles maker posted upbeat third-quarter results, and Alamos Gold, which rose 31 cents, or 3.1%, to $10.43.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 7.26 points by noon EST to 742.21.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups remained negative mid-Wednesday, as consumer discretionary gave back 1.2%, while financial and communications stocks each dropped 0.6%.
The five gainers were paced mostly by information technology, marching 1.4%, gold, brightening 1.2%, and materials improving 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Wednesday, taking a breather after the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped a significant milestone.
The 30-stock index shed 180.95 points to greet noon at 29,868.55.
The S&P 500 skidded 9.47 points to 3,625.94,
The NASDAQ recovered 25.78 points to 12,062.57.
Salesforce led the Dow lower, falling more than 2% after Dow reported the company held talks to buy Slack Technologies. Energy and financials each fell at least 0.8% and were the worst-performing sectors in the S&P 500.
The blue-chip Dow broke above 30,000 for the first time on Tuesday, rallying more than 400 points. The Dow was also on pace for its biggest monthly gain since 1987, up more than 13%.
Trading volumes are expected to be lighter than usual ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. markets will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and will have a short session on Friday.
On the macroeconomic front, U.S. weekly jobless claims totaled 778,000 for the week ended Nov. 21, ahead of the 733,000 expectation from economists surveyed by Dow Jones and up from 742,000 the previous week.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were up narrowly, lowering yields to 0.87% from at Tuesday’s 0.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices strengthened 68 cents to $45.59 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $4.50 to $1,809.10 U.S.
