Equity markets in Canada’s biggest centre were little changed Wednesday as investors continued to monitor the standoff between Russia and Ukraine and digested disappointing U.S. private sector employment data.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended Wednesday up 14.31 points to 14,304.17
The Canadian dollar gained 0.47 at 90.61 cents U.S., following the Bank of Canada's interest rate announcement.
The gold sector gained while Barrick Gold slid 14 cents to $22.49
Laurentian Bank of Canada posted adjusted earnings of $39.3 million or $1.29 per share compared with $39.1 million or $1.30 per share last year and its shares slipped 58 cents to $45.92.
The base metals sector was ahead with May copper one cent lower at $3.21 U.S. a pound. Stalwart Teck Resources docked 12 cents to $24.59
The energy sector declined as Imperial Oil gained 46 cents to $50.82.
Media company Torstar Corp. had $20.6 million or 26 cents a share of quarterly net income, little changed from a year earlier. Revenue was $366.5 million, down 7% from a year earlier, although the media division's revenue was up from the third quarter and its shares jumped 63 cents or 12.5% to $5.67.
Economically speaking, the Bank of Canada announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1%. The Bank Rate is 1 1/4% and the deposit rate is 3/4 of 1%.
The central bank added that both total CPI and core inflation in Canada are still expected to follow roughly the path outlined in the bank’s January Monetary Policy Report, although recent readings were slightly higher than expected. Excess supply in the economy and competition in the retail sector will likely keep inflation well below the 2% target this year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 7.95 points to 1,029.28.
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower on the day, with global base metals falling 0.7%, health-care skidding 0.6%, and energy 0.5% to the bad.
The six gainers were led by materials, up 1%, gold, stronger by 0.8%, and the metals and mining group, up 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
After two wild days for the market, stocks hardly moved at all Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35.7 points to close Wednesday at 16,360.18, following a climb Tuesday of more than 200 points.
The S&P 500 index listed lower 0.10 points from yesterday’s all-time high finish, to 1,873.81. The NASDAQ added six points to 4,357.97.
On the corporate front, eBay remained in focus as a spat between the company and activist investor Carl Icahn continued. In the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, eBay CEO John Donahoe said breaking up the company from PayPal is a bad idea.
On CNBC Wednesday morning, Icahn continued to push for the spinoff, and said he's "never seen worse corporate governance than eBay."
Shares of eBay didn't do much Wednesday. But they are near an all-time high of just below $60. U.S.
Facebook shares were up sharply and also trading near their all-time high.
Traders are optimistic that the stock will continue to surge.
A TechCrunch report from Tuesday suggesting that Facebook is in talk to buy drone maker Titan Aerospace put Facebook investors in a particularly good mood.
Facebook is interested in using the drones to bring Internet access to parts of the world still without it, beginning with Africa, the report said.
One trader compared Facebook to Google and another said the stock could climb another 40% from its current levels of around $71 U.S.
Shares of Hovnanian were down sharply after the homebuilder's revenue came in below expectations. That may be another sign that that the housing market recovery could be losing steam.
Target shares were lower after the company said it is replacing tech chief Beth Jacob in the wake of the retailer's massive data breach.
Smith & Wesson surged almost 20% after the gun maker reported sales jumped 7%, with handgun sales up 30%. Shares of rival Sturm Ruger, which reported disappointed sales last week, rose as well. But some StockTwits traders seemed skeptical.
PetSmart's revenue fell short of forecasts, sending shares of the pet supplies retailer down nearly 3%.
Wednesday's pause comes as the high-stakes standoff between Ukraine and Russia continues, with both sides insisting they don't want war.
The European Union announced that it was offering an aid package to Ukraine worth € 11 billion. Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to meet Russian leaders as the U.S. considers implementing economic sanctions against Russia after the country's forces took control of Crimea. EU officials have also said they are considering sanctions.
Economically speaking, U.S. payroll processing firm ADP reported that private sector employers added just 139,000 jobs in February. That missed economists' forecasts.
Like many of the other weak economic reports lately, economists were quick to blame the disappointing number on snow and ice.
The mediocre report is worrisome two days before the government will release the official numbers for job growth and unemployment for February. Economists expect that 150,000 jobs were added last month, up from only 113,000 jobs added in January.
They expect the unemployment rate to remain at 6.6%
Today, the U.S. Federal Reserve released its Beige Book report about the health of regional economies.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries lost ground, raising yields to 2.70% from Tuesday’s 2.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 39 cents to $101.20 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked 30 cents to $1,338.20 U.S. an ounce.
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