Canada’s main stock index fell on Thursday as energy stocks were hit by lower crude prices and disappointing earnings from Suncor Energy.
The TSX Composite Index retreated 18.27 points to close Thursday at 16,483.16, though off its lows of the afternoon.
The Canadian dollar eked lower 0.01 cents to 75.94 cents U.S.
Suncor slipped 83 cents, or 2.1%, to $38.88 after the second-largest Canadian oil and gas producer’s reported disappointing third-quarter profits. Imperial Oil shed six cents to $18.70.
Shopify doffed $7.41, or 1.8%, to $412.50, while BlackBerry dropped six cents to $6.92.
Among health-care stocks, Canopy Growth ditched 31 cents, or 1.2%, to $26.21, while Aurora Cannabis lost four cents to $4.71.
On the other hand, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc jumped $3.91, or 19.8%, to $23.66, after quarterly results beat estimates and the company named interim head Ian Edwards as its chief executive officer.
Other gainers were under the gold banner, as Barrick Gold shone brighter 42 cents, or 1.9%, to $22.86, while Alamos Gold popped 47 cents, or 7%, to $7.15.
Among utilities, AltaGas shot higher 68 cents, or 3.7%, to $19.17, while Brookfield Renewable Partners took on $1.43, or 2.6%, to $55.99.
MAG Silver gained 47 cents, or 3.8%, to $13.00, while Franco Nevada picked up $2.86, or 2.3%, to $127.72
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that real gross domestic product edged up 0.1% in August, following no change in July.
Goods-producing industries were up 0.2% after two months of declines, led by a rebound in manufacturing, while services-producing industries edged up 0.1%.
Overall, there were gains in 14 out of 20 industrial sectors.
The agency’s Industrial Product Price Index edged down 0.1% in September, primarily as a result of lower prices for meat, fish and dairy products.
The Raw Materials Price Index was unchanged from August. Higher prices for crude energy products were mostly offset by lower prices for animals and animal products.
Finally, the average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,035 in August, up 0.6% from July. StatsCan added that, compared with August 2018, earnings increased by 2.9%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nosed higher 0.09 at 538.34
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups were lower, with energy down 2.1%, information technology bowing 1%, and health-care 0.7% to the bad.
The four gainers were led by gold, up 2.6%, utilities, up 0.9%, and materials, better by 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Thursday despite better-than-expected earnings from Facebook and Apple and the Federal Reserve’s third rate cut of 2019. Investors took a pause and turned their focus to U.S.-China trade negotiations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 140.46 points – off its lows of the day -- to conclude Thursday and the month of October at 27,046.23
The S&P 500 sank 9.21 points to 3,037.56, pulling back from a record set in the previous session.
The NASDAQ Composite Index flopped 11.61 points to 8,292.36
The major averages posted solid gains for October despite Thursday’s losses. The Dow increased 0.3% for the month, while the S&P 500 gained 0.5%. The NASDAQ ended October up 0.6%.
Media reports circulated Thursday that Chinese officials have been casting doubt over the possibility of a long-term trade deal with the U.S. The report added Chinese officials are concerned about President Donald Trump’s “impulsive nature” and the risk of him backing out of any kind of deal.
Trade bellwether Caterpillar dropped 1.8% while Micron Technology retreated 0.9%
Wall Street also cheered strong earnings from Apple and Facebook.
Apple shares rose 2.3% after the tech giant posted earnings per share of $3.03 on revenue of $64 billion. Analysts expected a profit of $2.84 per share on sales of $62.99 billion. The company’s iPhone and services revenues also topped estimates.
Facebook, meanwhile, climbed 1.8% after the social-media company reported a profit of $2.12 per share, topping an estimate of $1.91 per share. Facebook also reported stronger-than-expected average revenue per user.
So far, two thirds of the S&P 500 have reported quarterly numbers. Of those companies, 75% posted better-than-expected results
In other corporate news, Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler (FCA) announced a landmark merger with French rival PSA Peugeot Citroen, which will create the world’s fourth-largest car maker.
FCA will pay its shareholders a 5.5-billion-euro ($6.1-billion U.S.) special dividend and the two companies will join forces through a 50-50 share swap. The new company’s shares will be listed in New York, Paris and Milan.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury vaulted, lowering yields to 1.68% from Wednesday’s 1.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 96 cents to $54.04 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $17.50 to $1,514.20 U.S. an ounce.
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