Equities in Canada’s main stock index were little changed at open on Wednesday as advances in energy stocks were offset by declines in precious metal miners.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index eased back 3.53 points to begin Wednesday trading at 16,367.75
The Canadian dollar was up 0.13 cents to 76.01 cents U.S.
South Africa's Sibanye-Stillwater is set to sell a 51% stake in its PGM-copper project in northern Ontario to Generation Mining Ltd in a deal to further develop the asset.
Generation shares were level at 30 cents in the early going.
RBC raised the rating on Centerra Gold to sector perform from underperform. Centerra dipped two cents to $9.31.
JP Morgan raised the rating on Eldorado Gold to neutral from underweight. Eldorado dropped three cents to $7.17.
RBC raised the target price on Kirkland Lake Gold to $54.00 from $52.00. Kirkland Lake shares retreated 48 cents to $55.95.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange handed back 0.97 points at 578.02
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups were lower in the first hour, as gold lost 1%, materials sank 0.8%, and health-care issues fell 0.4%
The three surging subgroups were energy, up 1.5%, consumer discretionary stocks, up 0.2%, and financials, better by 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Wednesday as comments from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin lifted expectations of a potential trade deal between China and the U.S.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered 36.78 points to begin Wednesday’s session at 26,585, as Intel and Apple outperformed.
The S&P 500 regained 4.01 points to 2,921.39, led by the energy and tech sectors.
The NASDAQ Composite charged ahead 53.2 points to 7,937.91
Tech shares were led by a 12% gain in Micron, which also also jolted other semiconductor stocks, while Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia also rose more than 4%.
Micron shares shot up after the chipmaker said it could "lawfully resume" shipments to Chinese telecom giant Huawei. The stock also got a boost from better-than-expected quarterly results.
"We were about 90% of the way there (with a deal) and I think there’s a path to complete this," Mnuchin told reporters on Wednesday, without providing detail on what the final 10% of an agreement might entail. He said he’s confident President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping can make progress in stalled trade talks at the forthcoming Group of 20 (G-20) meeting this weekend.
Bloomberg News also reported, citing sources, that the U.S. was willing to suspend tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods as the two sides resume trade talks.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, raising yields to 2.02% from Tuesday’s 1.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.23 to $59.06 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $8.30 to $1,410.40 U.S. an ounce.
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