Equities in Toronto turned slightly higher in early trade on Wednesday, as gains for gold miners and energy companies with higher commodity prices offset falls among financials.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index inched up 4.38 points to open Wednesday at 15,260.73
The Canadian dollar sidled back 0.29 cents to 78.65 cents U.S.
BlackBerry shares fell as much as 3.6% on the Toronto Stock Exchange after brokerage Goldman Sachs issued a "sell" recommendation on the stock, citing concerns about rising competition in its mobile software business.
The company once known as Research In Motion saw its shares begin trade Wednesday at $11.41, unchanged from Tuesday’s close.
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Cargojet to sector perform from outperform. Cargojet shares dipped 29 cents to $50.42.
CIBC cut the rating on Kinaxis to neutral from outperform. Kinaxis shares plummeted $10.34, or 13%, to $69.35.
Canaccord Genuity cut the rating on Magellan Aerospace to hold from buy. Magellan Aerospace lost 48 cents, or 2.3%, to $19.99
On the macroeconomic calendar, Statistics Canada reported Canadian municipalities issued $8.1 billion worth of building permits in June, up 2.5% from May and the second highest value on record.
The agency attributes the rise to higher construction intentions for multi-family dwellings and commercial buildings.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, meanwhile, said the trend in housing starts was 217,550 units in July, compared to 215,175 units in June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.47 points to 766.64
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, gold led the winners, ahead 1.7%, while materials surged 0.7%, while industrials took on 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 0.9%, information technology, off 0.8%, and real-estate, sliding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded lower on Wednesday as U.S.-North Korean relations heated up.
The Dow Jones Industrials gave back 66.92 points to 22,018.42, with Walt Disney contributing the most losses. The 30-stock index snapped a streak of nine straight record closes in the previous session.
The S&P 500 lost 7.17 points to 2,467.75, with the consumer discretionary sector leading decliners.
The NASDAQ sank 35.88 points to 6,334.58
President Donald Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday about facing "fire and fury" if North Korea delivers more threats against the U.S.
North Korea responded by saying it was "carefully examining" the idea of a missile strike on Guam, a U.S. Pacific territory.
Defense stocks spiked, with Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman all hitting record highs.
Wall Street also focused on corporate earnings from Disney. The company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings but its sales missed expectations. The media giant's stock dropped approximately 5% in early trade and shaved off about 43 points from the price-weighted Dow.
Mylan Labs and Wendy's were among the companies that reported earnings before the bell Wednesday, with 21st Century Fox set to report after the close.
Calendar second-quarter earnings have been mostly strong. More than 70% of S&P 500 companies that had reported posted better-than-expected earnings while 69% have beaten of sales.
In economic news, productivity in the second quarter rose 0.9%, more than the expected gain of 0.7%. Mortgage applications rose by 3% last week, boosted by a drop in rates. Wholesale trade data showed inventories posted their biggest gain in six months.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hiked sharply, dropping yields to 2.22% from Tuesday’s 2.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regrouped 27 cents to $49.44 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices jumped $15.80 to $1,278.40 U.S. an ounce.
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