Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday led by declines in energy stocks which fell in tandem with oil prices and following the Bank of Canada interest rate decision.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 69.08 points to open Wednesday at 16,092.22
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.01 cents to 75.87 cents.
Canada's auto sales fell for the sixth straight month in August, as rising interest rates put a damper on demand for new cars.
Crescent Point Energy named Craig Bryksa its new chief executive officer and said it would immediately reduce 17% of its workforce as the Canadian energy producer looks to turn around its business.
Crescent Point shares slumbered 31 cents, or 4%, to $7.51.
China's Zijin Mining Group Co will buy Canadian gold and copper miner Nevsun Resources Ltd for about $1.86 billion U.S., after Nevsun rejected multiple bids from rival Lundin Mining Corp.
Nevsun shares skyrocketed 86 cents, or 17.3%, to $5.80.
RBC raised the target price on CRH Medical to $5.50 from $5.00. CRH shares gained five cents to $5.46.
Barclays cut the target price on Laurentian Bank of Canada to $49.00 from $52.00. Laurentian lost 53 cents, or 1.2%, to $43.10.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reports Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $743 million in June to $114 million in July, the smallest deficit since the most recent surplus in December 2016.
Exports increased 0.8%, while imports declined 0.4%.
This morning, the Bank of Canada maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1.5%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1.75% and the deposit rate is 1.25%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 3.93 points to 714.20
All but three of the 12 subgroups were negative in the first hour of trade, as information technology dished off 1.7%, energy proved 1.6% less energetic, and consumer discretionary stocks were 0.9% to the bad.
The three gainers were consumer staples, up 0.8%, health-care, inching up 0.2%, and financials, struggling to a gain of 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell broadly on Wednesday, led by a sharp decline in tech. Investors also braced for another round of trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 66.55 points at 25,885.93
The S&P 500 subsided 18.21 points to 2,878.51, with tech and energy both pulling back more than 1%. The S&P 500 energy sector was led lower by Halliburton, which fell nearly 5%.
The NASDAQ jettisoned 111.86 points, or 1.4%, to 7,979.38, as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet all fell at least 0.8%.
Officials from both nations will meet Wednesday to try and settle differences and secure a future deal on trade. The meeting takes place after the U.S. and Canada failed to secure a new agreement last Friday to replace the current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) pact.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated on Tuesday, however, that the country would not bow to certain requests at the talks with the U.S. this week.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Tuesday’s 2.9%.
Oil prices handed back a dollar to $68.87 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices progressed $3.30 to $1,202.40
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