Stocks in Toronto made some headway in the first hour of trading on Wednesday, led by gains for materials, health-care and financial sector stocks, while lower oil prices held back energy stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index inched up 8.06 points to open Wednesday at 12,990.16
The Canadian dollar faded 0.37 cents to 74.2 cents U.S.
Reports out this morning say U.S. regulatory probe of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc is focused on the drug maker's relationship with specialty pharmacy Philidor RX Services and was triggered by Valeant's own request that regulators investigate a short seller's allegations.
Valeant shares rose from the ashes of Tuesday, progressing $5.66, or 6.4%, to $93.60.
Torstar Corp posted a quarterly loss as print advertising revenue continues to slide.
Torstar shares deducted a penny to $1.95.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Avigilon Corp to $30.00 from $27.00 with a buy rating
Aviglion shares advanced $1.31, or 9.7%, to $14.79.
CIBC cut the rating on GDI Integrated Facility to sector perform from outperform. GDI shares backtracked 82 cents, or 7.3%, to $10.44.
BMO raised the target price on Maple Leaf Foods to $24.00 from $21.00 with a market perform rating. Maple Leaf shares spiked 57 cents, or 2.3%, to $25.22.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 1.14 points to 542.83
All but four of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower at the start of the session, with consumer staples trailing Tuesday’s close by 1.7%, consumer discretionary issues off 0.8%, and information technology down 0.5%.
The four gainers were led by a 6.9% surge in metals and mining, while materials prospered 2.5%, and gold shone 2.1% brighter.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower Wednesday after their best start to a month in just over three years. Oil and economic data remained in focus ahead of Friday's key jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial average tailed off 29.1 points to 16,835.98, after Tuesday’s 300-point-plus leap, with DuPont the greatest decliner and Apple the top gainer.
The S&P 500 subtracted 6.57 points to 1,971.78. Financials tried to hold slight gains and lead S&P 500 advancers, while utilities declined 1.5% as the greatest decliner in morning trade.
The NASDAQ index dipped 1.82 points to 4,687.78, as Amazon and Apple tried for gains
The ADP employment report showed U.S. private employers added a more-than-expected 214,000 jobs in February. Treasury yields edged higher after the report.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, boosting yields to 1.86% from Tuesday’s 1.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 39 cents a barrel to $34.01 U.S.
Gold prices grew $6.49 to $1,238.64 U.S. an ounce.
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