Equity markets in Canada’s largest market opened slightly lower on Thursday as trade tensions between the world's two largest economies eased after China said it was open to new talks with the United States.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 10.69 points to open Thursday at 16,038.33
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.07 cents to 76.99 cents.
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday officials needed to do more work before she could hold fresh talks with the United States on renewing North America Free Trade Agreement as time runs out to reach a deal.
Dollarama Inc missed analysts' estimates for second-quarter profit and comparable-store sales on Thursday, hit by lower sales during the Canada Day weekend.
The discount store chain withered $7.40 a share, or 14.2%, to $44.67.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Atco Ltd. to $44.00 from $43.00.
Atco shares gained 32 cents to $38.02.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Hudson's Bay Co. to $13.00 from $11.00. Bay shares took on six cents to $11.46.
CIBC raised the target price on Linamar Corp. to outperform from neutral. Linamar came out of Thursday’s first hour of trade ahead $2.02, or 3.5%, to $60.46.
On the economic list, Statistics Canada reported that builders in 15 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed reported higher prices in July, pushing the Canada-level new housing price index up 0.1%. It was the second straight rise for house prices in this country.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 0.73 points to 727.23
Seven of the 12 subgroups were lower to start out Thursday, as health-care backtracked 1.7%, consumer discretionary stocks retreated 1.4%, and energy dipped 0.8%.
The five gainers were led by information technology, moving higher 0.5%, while materials and industrial stocks each prospered 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Thursday, boosted by lower rates stemming from weaker-than-forecast inflation data as well as a rebound in Apple shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average muscled up 182.18 points to 26,181.10, with Apple and Boeing contributing the most to the gains.
The S&P 500 marched on 16.93 points to 2,905.85, led by gains in materials and tech.
The NASDAQ strengthened 63.54 points to 8,017.77
Apple shares strengthened the broader equity market as well as they rose more than 1%, after Apple unveiled three new iPhones on Wednesday.
Other tech stocks also rose on Thursday, including Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. AMD jumped more than 5% while Nvidia gained 1.4%.
Sentiment improved after news emerged that the U.S. was seeking to reignite trade discussions with China. Sources told the media that the United States was in the early stages of proposing a new round of trade talks with China in the near future.
This comes after a week of turmoil between the two nations, which saw China looking to seek permission from the World Trade Organization to inflict sanctions upon the U.S., and President Donald Trump stating last week that he was "ready to go" on hitting China with an additional amount of tariffs. Consequently, an air of cautiousness lingers for markets around the world.
Shares in Boeing picked up 1.3%, and Caterpillar, another bellwether for global trade, rose 0.8%.
The Commerce Department said the consumer price index — a widely followed inflation metric — rose 0.2% last month. Economists expected a gain of 0.3%
Investors had grown fearful of rising inflation recently, as it could lead to tighter monetary policy. The Federal Reserve has raised rates twice this year and is forecast to hike again later this month.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 2.97% from Wednesday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subsided 74 cents to $69.63 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices acquired three dollars to $1,213.90
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