Equities in Toronto resumed their sag on Wednesday as lackluster economic data and civil unrest in Hong Kong kept investors cautious.
The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 67.55 points to open at 14,892.96
The Canadian dollar regained 0.09 cents at 89.41 cents U.S.
The TSX index fell about 4.3% in September, its biggest monthly drop since May 2012, as a stronger U.S. dollar weighed on commodity prices and shares of natural resource companies.
Renaissance Capital starts coverage of both Africa Oil Corp. and Oando Energy Resources Inc. with buy ratings. Africa Oil nicked lower nine cents to $4.83, while Oando rallied eight cents to $1.80.
Raymond James cut the rating on Black Diamond Group Ltd. to outperform from strong buy. Black Diamond shares fell 58 cents, or 2.4%, to $23.24.
The new head of Canada’s banking regulator said Tuesday a recent system-wide stress test confirmed Canadian banks could absorb the hit from a significant downturn in the country's booming housing market.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.32 points to 907.97
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower, with industrials slackening 1.5%, energy off 1%, and utilities sliding 0.6%.
The two gainers were gold, up 1.1%, and materials, strengthening 0.3%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock investors continued to sell their assets pushing priced lower on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected data on private-sector hiring once again raised concerns that the Federal Reserve may start tightening policy sooner.
The Dow Jones Industrials dipped 163.30 points, or 1%, to open at 16,879.60.
The S&P 500 slipped 16.10 points to 1,956.19, and lost 1.6% last month, but eked out a 0.6% gain over the third quarter. The NASDAQ index tumbled 49.19 points to 4,444.20.
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. surged 21% after the Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first known Ebola case diagnosed in the U.S.
Other companies working on treatments for the deadly virus also were active in early trading: BioCryst Pharmaceuticals rose 4%, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. rose 4.8%.
Private employers added 213,000 new jobs in September and many view the report as a proxy for the non-farm payrolls data due on Friday. Investors await readings on manufacturing, and car-sales numbers.
Elsewhere on the economic calendar, the Institute for Supply Management was to release its reading for the month. Data on construction spending for August was also scheduled for publication this morning.
Auto makers will report car and truck sales throughout the day. Expectations are for sales to slow to an annual 16.5 million last month, from 17.5 million in August
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries rose sharply, lowering yields to 2.43% from Tuesday’s 2.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked 91 cents to $92.07 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $4.10 to $1,215.70 U.S. an ounce.
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