Stock markets in Toronto edged lower on Wednesday, driven by weakness in energy stocks as crude oil pulled back following Tuesday's sharp gains.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 30.42 points to open Wednesday at 13,377.41
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.15 cents at 75.01 cents U.S.
Maple Leaf Foods said it would cut 400 jobs, or about 3% of its workforce, nearly a month after the meat packer pushed back a timeline for hitting a key profit target.
Maple Leaf shares dropped a penny to $21.19.
CIBC raised the target price on Alimentation Couche-Tard to $74.00 from $66.00. Couche-Tard stocks jumped $1.02, or 1.7%, to $62.10.
BMO cut the price target on Bombardier to $1.30 from $1.50. Bombardier shares retreated four cents, or 3.4%, to $1.14.
National Bank Financial increased the target price on Capstone Infrastructure to $4.50 from $3.75. Capstone shares were unchanged at 40 cents.
While no economic data is due for release today, some somewhat cheery news came out last night from the Bank of Canada. It stated that our economy is rebounding following a modest contraction in the first half of the year, boosted by non-energy exports and investment, which will help growth reach 2.5% in 2017.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.46 points to 519.44.
Of the 13 TSX subgroups, seven were higher, as consumer staples climbed 1.2%, while industrials and consumer discretionaries each gained 0.5%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, down 1.4%, gold, off 0.5%, and real-estate, trailing Tuesday’s close by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks in New York tried to hold slight gains Wednesday amid a slew of economic reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average opened up 23.35 points to 17,835.54
The S&P 500 nicked up 0.16 points to 2,089.30, as energy declined 1% as the greatest laggard. Health-care and consumer stocks were among the few advancers.
The NASDAQ index strengthened 5.42 points to 5,108.23
U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and the stock market closes at 1 p.m. EST on Friday.
Economically speaking, durable goods rose 3% in October. Non-defense, ex-aircraft capital goods orders surpassed expectations with a rise of 1.3% after a revised 0.4% gain in September.
Weekly jobless claims came in at 260,000.
October U.S. personal spending rose 0.1% while personal income rose 0.4%
The parade of data continued with October’s personal consumption expenditures price index, which improved 0.2% after a similar rise in September
Data on the housing market included a 3.2% decline in weekly mortgage applications, while the FHFA home price index showed a 0.8% monthly rise in September.
October new home sales showed a gain of 10.7%,
The University of Michigan's final read on November consumer sentiment came in at 91.3, up slightly from October's final read of 90.0.
The flash November U.S. Markit services PMI came in at 56.5, besting October's final read of 54.8.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained strength, lowering yields to 2.23% from Tuesday’s 2.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 91 cents a barrel to $41.96 U.S.
Gold prices settled $6.62 to $1,069.03 U.S. an ounce.
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