Markets in Toronto finished quite flat Wednesday, giving up most of somewhat sizable gains accumulated throughout the day, as losses in tech stocks threatened to nose out gains in energy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 3.74 points – off its highs of the day, to finish at 16,029.33, improving only slightly on Tuesday’s all-time record.
The Canadian dollar regained 0.19 cents to 77.76 cents U.S.
Information technology stocks were bruised, particularly BlackBerry, suffering 24 cents, or 1.7%, to $13.87, while Constellation Software gave up $7.83, or 1.1%, to $726.15.
In the industrial sector, Air Canada was toppled $1.43, or 5.6%, to $24.13, while Canadian Pacific Railway slid 78 cents to $222.90.
Among energy stocks, Suncor Energy rose 46 cents, or 1.1%, to $44.26, while Encana surged 54 cents, or 3.6% to $15.63.
In health-care, Canopy Growth gained 31 cents, or 1.9%, to $16.49, while rival Aphria climbed 10 cents, or 1.3%, to $7.80.
On the economic beat, the seasonally-adjusted IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index dipped to 54.3 in October from 55.0 in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 4.64 points to 789.34
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups had gone south by day’s end. Information technology slid 1.7%, while industrials were bruised 0.8%, and utilities faltered 0.5%
The five gainers were led by energy, up 1.5%, health-care, up 0.6%, and real-estate, more solid by 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed mostly higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 57.77 points to 23,435.01. The 30-stock index also traded at a record high.
The S&P 500 surged 4.1 points to 2,579.36, to an all-time high, with energy leading advancers.
Estee Lauder was the best-performing individual stock in the index, rising 9.2%. The company posted better-than-expected quarterly results. Envision Healthcare, meanwhile, was the biggest laggard, dropping 34.2% on weaker-than-expected earnings.
The NASDAQ faded 11.14 points to 6,716.53 from Tuesday’s record, with Apple declining more 1.3%.
The Fed kept interest rates unchanged, as was widely expected. The central bank, however, did leave the door open for a December rate hike. There was also little in the post-meeting statement Wednesday to indicate that the Fed would hold off on raising rates again soon.
Expectations for a December rate hike are nearly 100%.
In economic news, the U.S. private sector added 235,000 jobs in October, according to a report from ADP and Moody's. Economists expected a gain of 200,000 jobs.
The ADP report usually serves as a preview to the government's monthly jobs report, which is scheduled for release Friday.
Other data released Wednesday include the Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index, which hit 58.7 in October, as well as construction spending, which rose 0.3%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were up slightly, lowering yields to 2.37% from Tuesday’s 2.38%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 10 cents a barrel to $54.28 U.S.
Gold prices gained $5.50 an ounce to $1,276.00 U.S.
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