Equities in Toronto fell to their lowest point in more than a week on Wednesday as energy stocks pulled back with cheaper oil, and gold miners and other materials stocks also weighed ahead of the release of minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
The S&P/TSX Composite stumbled 87.97 points to greet noon at 14,615.92
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.08 cents to 77.67 cents U.S.
The energy group retreated as oil fell for the first time in a week, with investors weighing up how successful potential talks among producers to rein in ballooning oversupply would be.
Major producer Suncor Energy fell 1.1% to $36.19 and pipeline company TransCanada Corp slipped 0.7% to $60.93.
Barrick Gold shed 1.5% to $26.99 and Goldcorp lost 1.8% to $23.74.
Brookfield Asset Management fell 3.4% to $12.64. The company has signed a preliminary contract to buy a majority stake in water and sewage group Odebrecht Ambiental, an industry source told Reuters on Wednesday.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc advanced 8.8% to $37.18 after Morgan Stanley raised its rating and price target on the stock.
Performance Sports Group slumped 10% to $2.43 after the sports equipment maker said it was facing an investigation by U.S. and Canadian securities regulators, two days after it said it was conducting an internal probe into its financials.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 11.16 points to 827.39
All but two of the 13 subgroups were down Wednesday morning, as gold descended 2.8%, while materials were off 2.5%, and energy dipped 0.9%.
The two gainers were health-care, up 2.8%, while industrials eked ahead 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street geared up for the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting, while U.S. stocks were led lower by telecommunications.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 79.92 points to 18,472.10, with McDonald's and Home Depot contributing the most losses.
The S&P 500 slid 9.08 points to 2,169.07, with utilities leading all 10 sectors lower.
The NASDAQ Composite dipped 28.82 points to 5,198.27
Wall Street also digested a number of quarterly reports before the bell, including Lowe's and Target.
The Fed minutes are scheduled for release at 2 p.m. ET. Investors will be looking for signs and clues about when the next rate hike will be coming, particularly after hawkish comments made by some Fed officials.
Market expectations for a September rate hike remained at 18% Wednesday
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to Tuesday’s 1.58%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 26 cents a barrel to $46.32 U.S.
Gold prices slumped $6.20 to $1,350.70 U.S. an ounce.
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