Stock markets in Toronto lurched lower on Wednesday as a weaker U.S. dollar helped fuel gains in commodity prices, pushing up shares in the energy and gold-mining sectors.
The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 65.08 points to greet noon at 15,016.18, after Tuesday’s hike of more than 120 points.
Still, the benchmark has gained about 3.3% since the start of the year.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.08 cents to 79.92 cents U.S.
Shares of energy producers climbed. Canadian Natural Resources advanced 1.2% to $38.39, and Suncor Energy added 0.8% to $36.24.
The gold-mining sector gained as Barrick Gold rose 1.6% to $14.44, and Goldcorp was up 0.5% at $24.44.
Metals stocks, however, took it on the chin, as Turquoise Hill Resources slid 16 cents, or 4.2%, to $3.69.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 2.10 points to 676.30
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower by noon hour, as metals and mining stocks sank 2%, while health-care and information technology each slipped 1.3%.
The four gainers were led by energy and consumer discretionaries, each up 0.3%, while gold gained 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower on Wednesday as investors continued to eye the timing of a rate hike and weigh the impact of the dollar on the coming earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrials ditched 160.48 points to 17,850.66,
The S&P 500 lost 16.87 points to 2,074.63,
The NASDAQ index shed 77.23 points to 4,917.50.
Kraft Foods surged more than 30% to open at an all-time high following morning news that the firm will merge with Heinz to form Kraft Heinz, with Heinz shareholders owning 51% of the combined company and Kraft shareholders owning 49%. Kraft shareholders will also receive a special dividend of $16.50 U.S. per share.
American Express CEO Ken Chenault outlines the financial services giant's future plans in a presentation to investors today. American Express has faced bumpy times in recent months, including the loss of its long-standing partnership with Costco.
Facebook kicks off its annual developer conference today, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg among the speakers. The conference will run for two days instead of one for the first time.
The Consumer Products Safety Commission confirmed it is investigating the safety concerns raised about the Lumber Liquidators' flooring products in a recent "60 Minutes" segment.
PVH, Red Hat and Five Below post earnings after the bell.
The U.S. dollar edged about half a percentage point lower against major world currencies but still held onto gains of more than 7% year-to-date. Equities have tended to rise with a weaker dollar and decline with dollar gains.
February's durable goods orders fell 1.4%, missing expectations of a modest pick-up. The core non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft also fell 1.4% last month. The report marked the sixth straight month of declines, likely weighed down by the strong dollar and weak global demand.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries scooted lower, raising yields to 1.89% from Tuesday’s 1.87%. Treasury prices and yields move in
opposite directions.
Oil prices moved ahead 87 cents to $48.38 U.S.
Gold prices moved higher by $6.20 to $1,197.60 U.S.
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