Canada's main stock index dipped on Wednesday, as technology stocks retreated and earnings from major U.S. banks failed to excite investors, while lingering global geopolitical risks kept the commodities rally going.
The TSX lost 70.16 points to pause for lunch Wednesday at 32,800.20.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.06 cents to 72.08 cents U.S.
Also in focus is Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to China on Wednesday, as the nation seeks to diversify trade away from the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that while the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement was irrelevant for his country, "Canada would love it. Canada wants it. They need it." The agreement is up for review this year.
Telecommunications company Cogeco Communications and industrial manufacturer Velan are scheduled to announce their quarterly results later in the day.
Cogeco gained $1.04, or 1.6%, to $68.35, while shares in Velan docked 65 cents, or 3.4%, to $18.58.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tailed off 8.55 points to 1,089.50.
Still, eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday, led by energy, rumbling 1.8%, telecoms, ahead 1.3%, and health-care, haler 1.1%.
The four laggards were weighed most by information technology, dropping 4.7%, while consumer discretionary and gold stocks each retreated 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks moved lower on Wednesday for a second day, pulling back further from record levels, as traders digested a fresh batch of earnings and monitored geopolitical developments.
The Dow Jones Industrials dived 268.86 points to 48,923.13
The S&P 500 index tumbled 67.7 points, or 1%, to 6,896.04.
The NASDAQ weakened 343.77 points, or 1.5%, to 23,366.10.
Tech bogged down the broader market. Chip stocks in particular suffered losses, as Broadcom dropped 5%, Nvidia lost 2%, and Micron
Technology shed 1%.
The moves came after Reuters reported that Chinese customs authorities have advised customs agents that Nvidia’s H200 chips are not permitted to enter the country.
Wells Fargo was among the laggards in the session, falling more than 5% after the company posted weaker-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter.
Bank of America and Citigroup were lower despite their results beating consensus estimates, as traders didn’t view them as strong enough to continue supporting a market trading near record highs.
That adds to their losses for the week in the wake of President Donald Trump’s call for credit card interest rate reform that he made on Friday. Bank of America is down roughly 7% week to date, while Citigroup and Wells Fargo have both fallen about 8%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury inched up, lowering yields to 4.14%, from Tuesday’s 4.17%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite
directions.
Oil prices advanced 52 cents to $61.67 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $24.00 to $4,623.10.
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