The Toronto stock market was slightly higher Wednesday with traders cautious amid worries that the United States will end up leading a military strike against Syria, which it accuses of using poison gas against its own civilian population.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended Wednesday ahead 17.31 points to 12,757.81.
The Canadian dollar added 0.37 cents at 95.30 cents U.S.
Commodity prices headed lower and the gold sector dropped, although Goldcorp Inc. was eight cents higher at $31.50.
The telecom sector gave back some of the 4% surge registered Tuesday after U.S. telecom giant Verizon agreed to buy out the remaining stake in its mobile phone business from Vodafone in a massive, $130-billion U.S. deal. At the same time, Verizon made it clear it wasn't interested in entering the Canadian wireless market.
Rogers Communications slipped 71 cents, or 1.6%, to $43.88 after running up 7% on Tuesday.
The energy sector was off as Imperial Oil swooned 18 cents to $44.62, and Suncor stepped back 34 cents to $35.83
The metals and mining sector was slightly lower as December copper fell six cents to $3.25 U.S. a pound, erasing most of Tuesday's gain that followed strong manufacturing data from China and the U.S.
Teck Resources gained 19 cents, however, to $27.57.
On the corporate front, Fiera Capital Corp. has announced two deals worth a combined $156.3 million U.S. under which it is acquiring a prominent U.S. wealth management firm and a global asset manager.
Fiera says the deals for Los Angeles-based Bel Air Investment Advisors LLC and an affiliate as well as New York-based Wilkinson O'Grady & Co. Inc. are part of its strategy of expanding into U.S. markets. Fiera shares eased six cents to $11.23.
In the economic docket today, Statistics Canada reported that merchandise imports grew by 0.6% in July, while exports were off 0.6%, meaning our trade deficit with the rest of the world widened to $931 million in July from $460 million in June.
What’s more, the Bank of Canada is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.60 points to close Wednesday at 947.18
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher on the day, led by utilities, up 1.2%, industrials, up 0.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks, advancing 0.7%.
The five losing groups were weighed mostly by telecoms, sliding 0.8%, gold, down 0.4%, and materials, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks advanced Wednesday, with the Dow adding close to 100 points, thanks to a strong batch of company news.
But investors remain on edge as they consider the increasing likelihood that the U.S. will lead a military strike against Syria.
The Dow Jones Industrials vaulted 96.91 points to 14,930.90
The S&P 500 index picked up 13.31 points to 1,653.08. The NASDAQ improved 36.43 points to 3,649.04
Auto giants Ford and General Motors were big winners after delivering strong sales figures.
GM, Ford and Chrysler Group all reported double-digit percentage increases in sales in August. Japanese rivals Toyota Motor and Nissan also reported large sales gains, putting the industry on pace for a 16-million annual sales rate for the first time since before the recession started in late 2007.
Apple was also a top performer, as investors anticipated that the company will announce its newest iPhone next Tuesday.
Shares of LinkedIn fell more than 2% after the job search website announced plans to sell $1 billion U.S. worth of stock in a secondary offering. Of course even with the slide, shares of LinkedIn are up more than 100% this year.
Shares of JCPenney rose sharply after two hedge funds -- Hayman Capital and Glenview Capital-- announced new stakes in the struggling retailer.
On the earnings front, H&R Bloc shares fell after missing analyst expectations.
Shares of Dollar General rose after the retailer wowed Wall Street with its second-quarter results.
U.S. President Obama is seeking approval from Congress to carry out a military strike after saying U.S. intelligence showed that Syria used chemical weapons which killed more than 1,400 people.
Several key Democrats and Republicans have thrown their support behind Obama's plan in recent days, though a number of hurdles must still be overcome before the U.S. can take military action.
On the economic front, the Federal Reserve came into focus Wednesday afternoon as it released its Beige Book. Economic activity continued to expand "at a modest to moderate pace" during July and August across the country, according to the report, which could influence the Fed's decision on its stimulus policies.
There is speculation that it could decide to start pulling back on its $85-billion-U.S. a-month bond-buying program in a meeting later this month.
Still, investors may remain cautious ahead of the August jobs report due Friday, as the health of the labour market is a key factor for the Fed. Analysts expect that the economy added 177,000 jobs last month, and that the unemployment rate held steady at 7.4%.
Earlier in the day, the Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened by 13% in July to $39.1 billion U.S. from an almost four-year low as exports slowed.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged somewhat, raising yields to 2.90% from Tuesday’s 2.85%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell $1.45 to $107.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $22.10 to $1,390 U.S. an ounce.
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