Equities in Canada’s largest centre edged lower on Thursday but stayed close to its all-time high as a retreat among materials stocks weighed and investors reacted to a string of earnings reports.
The S&P/TSX Composite shed 42.07 points to approach noon at 15,601.77
The Canadian dollar eased 0.28 cents at 76.23 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included cable and wireless company Rogers Communications Inc, which rose 3.7% to $54.52 after reporting better-than-expected adjusted profit on solid wireless growth.
Methanex Corp jumped 5.5% to $64.71 after the methanol supplier posted a sharp jump in profit.
Among materials concerns, Potash Corp declined 2.3% to $25.37 after it forecast a less profitable year than analysts expected, and reported a surprisingly big drop in profit as a deep slump continued in the fertilizer sector.
Agrium, with whom Potash Corp plans to merge, fell 2% to $140.27.
TransCanada Corp pulled back after hitting all-time highs in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's move to get its Keystone XL pipeline back on track earlier this week. It was last down 1.7% at $63.35.
Altagas Ltd fell 5.8% to $31.40 after the energy infrastructure company said it would buy U.S.-based WGL Holdings Inc in an $8.4-billion deal.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $961.00 in November, up 0.8% from both the previous month and November 2015.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 0.73 points to 800.25
Eight of the 12 subgroups were lower, with gold sliding 2.2%, materials off 2.1%, and health-care fading 0.8%
The four gainers were led by telecoms, growing 1.1%, information technology ahead 0.3%, and financials up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded mixed Thursday after hitting new record highs, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average broke a key psychological level.
The Dow Jones Industrials added 43.31 points onto Wednesday’s all-time high to 20,111.82, with Boeing and Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains
The S&P 500 removed 0.05 points from Wednesday`s all-time high, to 2,298.32, with financials gaining and information technology falling behind.
The NASDAQ composite index took on 2.14 points from Wednesday`s all-time high to 5,658.48
One of the principal catalysts in sending stocks to record levels were a series of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump, including two that facilitate the construction of the Keystone XL and North Dakota Access pipelines.
Also helping lift the market have been quarterly results from companies as earnings season continues. Among the firms reporting Thursday were Ford and Dow component Caterpillar.
Ford matched earnings estimates, while topping sales expectations. Caterpillar beat earnings estimates but fell short of revenue expectations.
Alphabet, Intel, Microsoft, Paypal and Starbucks are among companies due to report after the bell.
In economic news, initial jobless claims jumped 22,000 to 259,000, but have remained below 300,000 for 99 weeks straight, their longest stretch since 1970.
The U.S. IHS Markit services PMI showed the sector expanded at its fastest pace since 2015, hitting 55.1 from 53.9. New home sales fell 10.4% in December.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell, raising yields to 2.54% from Wednesday’s 2.52%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recouped $1.17 to $53.92 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slumped $12.50 to $1,185.30 U.S. an ounce.
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