Canada's main stock index slipped on Wednesday as mining shares pulled back, although rising railway stocks and gains for some energy companies limited losses.
The S&P/TSX Composite erased 35.98 points to greet noon at 14,777.04
The Canadian dollar slid 0.28 cents at 77.58 cents U.S.
The most influential weights on the index included Alimentation Couche Tard, which fell 1.8% to $66.66. The convenience store operator won approval for its purchase of almost 300 Esso fuel and convenience stores from Imperial Oil.
Canadian National Railway Co rose 0.9% to $84.28, and rival Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd gained 0.9% to $201.65.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost ground
New Gold slumped 7.9% to $6.68 after saying development costs for a mine in northwestern Ontario had risen.
Barrick Gold fell 1.9% to $23.99, and Goldcorp declined 1.5% to $21.27.
Hudson's Bay Co fell 2.1% to $17.68 after saying it expects 2016 revenue to reach only the lower end of its forecast.
On the other side of the ledger, pipeline company Enbridge rose 1.6% to $56.16, adding to sharp gains on Tuesday, when it said it would pay about $28 billion in stock to buy Spectra Energy.
Other gainers included Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, up 2.8% to $38.91 after announcing the commercial U.S. introduction of a constipation medication late on Tuesday.
In economic news, the Bank of Canada announced this morning is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 0.5%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 0.75% and the deposit rate is 0.25%
Moreover, Western University’s Ivey School of Business reported its Purchasing Managers’ Index registered at 52.3 in August, compared to 57 in July and 58 in August 2015.
The survey is taken of purchasing managers to find out if they increased, decreased or stood pat on their purchases during the month.
Any reading above 50 constitutes expansion, anything less than 50, contraction.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange turned lower 3.49 points to 821.89
All but two of 12 TSX subgroups were negative by noon, with gold down 1.8%, materials off 1.4%, and telecoms skidding 1.1%.
The two gainers were health-care, better by 1.2%, and energy, 0.2% more energetic.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which is due at 2 p.m. ET.
The Dow Jones Industrials came upon lunch hour weaker by 53.83 points to 18,484.29, with Home Depot leading decliners and Caterpillar the top riser.
The S&P 500 lost 6.31 points to 2,185.99, with information technology leading five sectors higher and consumer staples the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ Composite sank 13.03 points to 5,262.87, after briefing touching a new all-time intraday high.
In corporate news, Apple is scheduled to hold an event later on Wednesday, where the company is expected to unveil a new iPhone.
The Beige Book is an important indicator on the state of the U.S. economy and as such, is a critical tool for the Fed in making key decisions.
Other economic data due Wednesday included the July read on the Jobs Openings and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which showed employers posting 5.9 million job openings for that month.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped, raising yields back to Tuesday’s 1.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices surged 64 cents at $45.47 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dipped $5.90 at $1,348.10 U.S. an ounce.
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