Equities in Canada’s largest centre gave over a portion of the gains they’d made late last week and early this, with mining stocks bearing most of the bruises.
The S&P/TSX Composite surrendered 117.94 points to finish Wednesday at 18,374.78,
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.08 cents to 78.76 cents U.S.
Gold and other resources placed an anchor on the markets Wednesday, with Barrick Gold losing $1.13, or 4.1%, to $26.38, while New Gold docked 10 cents, or 4.6%, to $2.08.
Franco Nevada deducted $6.15, or 4.1%, to $145.01, while SSR Mining got spanked $1.49, or 7.2%, to $19.31.
In health-care, Aurora Cannabis slid $1.34, or 7.5%, to $16.50, while Cronos Group slid 95 cents, or 5.7%, to $15.79.
Energy tried to balance things out, with Suncor Energy adding 27 cents, or 1.1%, to $24.13, while Parex Resources prospering 19 cents to $21.83.
In the financial category, Home Capital Group triumphed 72 cents, or 2.3%, to $32.25, while Manulife Financial soared 33 cents, or 1.3%, to $25.08.
Real-estate also made headway, with Broadwalk REIT forging ahead $1.15, or 3.3%, to $36.21, while Killam Apartment REIT gaining 50 cents, or 2.8%, to $18.31.
Canada must justify its planned $100-billion post-pandemic stimulus plan before committing to significant new spending and should commit to a clear fiscal anchor, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said the consumer price index rose 1.0% on a year-over-year basis in January, up from a 0.7% increase in December.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.4% in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 3.78 points to 1,084.35.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower Wednesday, as gold slumped 2.9%, materials slumbered 2.3%, and health-care fell 2.1%.
The three gainers were energy, up 0.6%, financials, ahead 0.3%, and real-estate, progressing 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose in volatile trading on Wednesday to hit another record close, boosted by a jump in Verizon and Chevron shares.
The blue-chip index climbed out of its gully and then some, gaining 90.27 points to end Wednesday at another all-time high of 31,613.02,
The S&P 500 came back from its lows of the afternoon, climbing to within 1.26 points of breakeven to 3,931.33, amid a 1% decline in the technology sector
The NASDAQ Composite came off its lows of the day, but still lost 82 points to 13,965.50, as Apple dropped 1.8%.
Dow-member Verizon was among the biggest gainers after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed a sizable stake in the telecom giant. The shares climbed 5.2% after the latest filing showed Berkshire bought more than $8 billion worth of the stock in the fourth quarter, making Verizon one of the conglomerate’s top six largest holdings.
Chevron jumped 3% as Berkshire revealed a large stake in the energy company as well last quarter.
The weakness in the broader market came as data showed retail sales surged 5.3% in January, blowing past a Dow Jones estimate of a 1.2% rise. The jump in consumer spending could further fuel inflation expectations, which have already pushed bond yields significantly higher recently.
Signs of a pickup in pricing pressures already emerged as the economy rebounds from the pandemic-induced recession with historic fiscal and monetary stimulus.
The U.S. Labor Department said Wednesday the producer price index, a measure of the prices businesses receive for their goods and services, rose 1.3% in January, the biggest jump since the index began in December 2009.
Elsewhere in the market, bitcoin topped $52,000 U.S. for the first time as its dizzying surge to new record highs continued.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys regained some strength, lowering yields to 1.29% from Tuesday’s 1.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.18 to $61.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $24.80 to $1,774.20
