Equities in Toronto retreated on Thursday as weakness in telecom and materials stocks offset gains for financials.
The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 61.74 points to open Thursday at 13,104.34
The Canadian dollar hurtled lower 0.68 cents to 71.87 cents U.S.
Shaw Communications Inc said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy Wind Mobile, the country's fourth-largest wireless provider, in a deal that gives it a much-needed presence in the cellular market.
Shaw shares took a pasting in the early going, sliding $2.04, or 7.6%, to $24.93.
Mizuho Securities cut the rating on Valeant Pharmaceuticals to neutral from buy, raising the target price to $130.00 from $111.00. Valeant shares – which enjoyed a healthy gain Wednesday – moved lower $3.38, or 2.1%, to $160.19.
RBC cut the rating on Telus Corp to sector perform from outperform, cutting target price to $41.00 from $47.00. Telus fell $3.03, or 7.5%, to $37.59.
Federal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland has strongly encouraged U.S. lawmakers to "get the job done" to repeal country-of-origin meat-labeling rules.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that those Canadians drawing employment insurance benefits dipped 3,300, or 0.6%, in October from the month before, to 539,700
On a year-over-year basis, the agency says the total number of EI beneficiaries was up 40,900, or 8.2%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange increased 2.66 points to 500.87
The 13 TSX subgroups were divided evenly between gainers and losers, information technology leading the six stocks in the former half, up 0.9%, while industrials surged 0.7% and real-estate was better by 0.4%.
Gold proved the worst off among the half-dozen laggards, down 4.8%, while telecoms suffered 3.5%, and the metals and mining sector slid 2.8%.
Consumer staples were unchanged in the first hour of trading.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded negative Thursday, struggling to follow a rally in global equities after the Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in more than nine years.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 42.53 points to 17,706.56. Chevron and Exxon Mobil were also among the decliners in the Dow.
The S&P 500 dropped 7.1 points to 2,065.97. Consumer staples and energy were the greatest decliners led nearly all S&P 500 sectors lower.
The NASDAQ index gave back 1.93 points to 5,069.20. Apple traded mostly lower after briefly attempting to trade higher.
General Mills fell a penny short of estimates with adjusted profit of 82 cents U.S. per share, with revenue also below estimates. General Mills saw revenue drop in all its retail categories, but the company did say its results are in line with its expectations.
Accenture missed estimates by four cents with quarterly profit of $1.28 U.S. per share, though revenue did beat forecasts due to growth at its consulting business.
In economic news, initial jobless claims came in at 271,000. The Philly Fed index for December was minus 5.9, the lowest of the year after a positive 1.9 print in November.
Leading indicators for November showed a 0.4% rise, with October unrevised, up 0.6%.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the country’s current account deficit in the third quarter increased 11.7% to $124.1 billion U.S, its highest level in nearly seven years, as a strong dollar weighed on exports and the profits of multi-national corporations.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 2.26% from Wednesday’s 2.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices doffed 22 cents a barrel to $35.30 U.S.
Gold prices dropped $21.64 to $1,050.68 U.S. an ounce.
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