Markets in Toronto listed marginally lower Wednesday, amid losses in the consumer staples and telecom fields.
The S&P/TSX Composite erased 16.37 points to close Wednesday at 14,796.65
The Canadian dollar slid 0.34 cents at 77.52 cents U.S.
In the staples area, convenience store whiz Alimentation Couche-Tard let go of $1.59, or 2.3%, to $66.35, while grocer Metro lost 54 cents, or 1.2%, to $44.13
Telecoms got rapped, most notably TELUS, which lost 90 cents, or 2.1%, to $42.89, while Rogers Communications got clobbered $1.44, or 2.5%, to $55.62.
Health-care proved the better of only two gaining areas Wednesday, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals climbed $1.19, or 3.1%, to $39.05.
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 on the day, with consumer staples and telecoms each down 1.3%, and information technology, sliding 0.3%.
The two gainers were health-care, better by 0.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks, 0.1% to the good
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed mixed Wednesday, with consumer staples lagging, as investors digested the release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished the day down 11.98 points to 18,526.14, with Home Depot leading decliners and Caterpillar the top riser.
The S&P 500 lost 0.33 points to 2,186.15, with consumer staples leading eight sectors lower and energy and utilities the only advancers.
The NASDAQ Composite recovered 8.02 points to 5,283.93, having hit a new all-time high in early trade, and on track to post a four-day winning streak.
In corporate news, Apple unveiled its latest iPhone.
The Beige Book, 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, showed the Fed sees moderate wage growth in the coming months.
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 were ultimately unchanged Wednesday, keeping yields at Tuesday’s 1.54%.
Oil prices surged 62 cents at $45.45 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dipped $5.00 at $1,349.00 U.S. an ounce.
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