Stocks in Canada’s largest market opened lower on Thursday
The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 88.69 points to begin trading at 14,585.04
The Canadian dollar nicked higher 0.11 cents to 91.95 cents U.S.
Air Canada reported a bigger first-quarter loss, mainly due to foreign exchange losses of $161 million and harsh winter weather. The airline’s shares stepped back 13 cents to $8.09
Bank of Nova Scotia said on Wednesday it will explore options to divest itself of some or all of its 37% stake in asset manager CI Financial and reuse the capital elsewhere. Scotiabank shares gained 78 cents to $67.75.
BMO raised the rating on Bear Creek Mining to outperform from market perform. Bear Creek shares inched up a penny at $2.01.
On the economic front, the Harper government says it will consider allocating some of its projected budget surplus to paying down debt, Finance Minister Joe Oliver said on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales in this country edged up 0.4% to $50.9 billion in March, the sixth advance in seven months.
The nation’s number crunchers say the rise mostly reflected higher sales in the food, machinery, and plastics and rubber products industries. However, these increases were largely offset by declines in the paper, and petroleum and coal products industries.
Lastly, according to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association, national home sales rose 2.7% from March to April. CREA also said the number of newly listed homes climbed 2.9% from March to April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was lower by 4.61 points to 987.13
Among the 14 Toronto subgroups, real-estate cleared breakeven by 0.1%, while telecoms squeaked 0.03% higher
Everything else went south, as information technology suffered 1.7%, energy was 1.4% less energetic, and the metals and mining sector dipped 1.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street has been looking closely at quarterly results from big retailers, especially Wal-Mart. And they don't like what they see.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average staggered 136.33 points to 16,477.64
The S&P 500 dipped 16.02 points to 1,872.51, and the NASDAQ composite index swooned 54.5 points to 4,046.13
Wal-Mart reported first quarter earnings and sales, and second quarter forecasts that fell short of estimates. Shares of the world's largest retailer fell nearly 3%, dragging down the Dow in early trading.
The big discount retailer blamed its poor sales and results on several factors, including bad weather and a delay in tax refunds caused by last fall's government shutdown.
Kohl's also had bad news. The department store chain said sales fell 3.4% in the first quarter, missing the company's own expectations. Shares were down 3%.
After the market closes, fellow J.C. Penney and Nordstrom will release quarterly reports.
General Motors announced five new recalls covering 2.7 million vehicles, including a wiring flaw tied to 13 accidents and two injuries. It was the latest in a string of high-profile recalls this year that have hit the automaker's bottom line.
The technology sector was a bright spot in early trading Thursday. Cisco Systems shares rallied more than 7% after the maker of information technology equipment and software reported earnings that beat expectations last night.
The fast-food industry is also in the spotlight Thursday as workers plan demonstrations in 150 cities around the world to protest low wages. Shares of McDonald's, Domino's and Burger King were only down modestly so far.
On the economic front, the government said new claims for unemployment benefits fell in the week ending May 10. As expected, consumer prices increased 0.3% in April. Excluding food and energy prices, the consumer price index rose 0.2% last month.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries marched, lowering yields to 2.50% from Wednesday’s 2.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices subtracted 55 cents to $101.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $9.30 to $1,296.60 U.S. an ounce.
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