Equities in Canada’s biggest market opened lower on Friday, weighed down by weakness in energy stocks, while concerns over delays to a new U.S. stimulus package further dented sentiment.
The TSX gave up 72.18 points to begin the week’s last session at 17,521.16.
The Canadian dollar surrendered 0.28 cents to 78.20 cents U.S.
The Bank of Zambia will begin buying gold from First Quantum Minerals and the state mining firm as it resumes holding the precious metal as part of its foreign reserves, the central bank governor said on Friday.
First Quantum shares ditched 13 cents to $20.41.
Canaccord Genuity raised the price target on Acuityads Holdings to $9.50 from $7.50. Acuityads shares lost 35 cents, or 3.8%, to $8.84.
TD Securities raised the rating on Dexterra Group to buy from hold.
Dexterra shares dropped three cents to $6.17.
RBC raised the rating on Scotiabank to outperform from sector perform. Shares in Scotiabank shares eked higher 11 cents to $68.40
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.97 points, to begin Friday at 777.31.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour, with energy trailing 1.6%, health-care sicker by 1.1%, and materials off 0.7%.
The two gainers were utilities, inching up 0.2%, while real-estate cleared breakeven 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell on Friday, on pace for their first weekly loss in three weeks, as the outlook for additional fiscal stimulus remained uncertain.
The 30-stock index chucked 46.74 points to start Friday’s session at 29,952.52.
The S&P 500 subtracted 10.24 points to 3,657.86.
The NASDAQ removed 27.98 points to 12,378.92.
For the week, the Dow is down 0.7% and the S&P 500 was behind 0.8%. The NASDAQ entered Friday’s session down 0.5% week to date.
Friday’s decline came as negotiations over a coronavirus relief deal dragged on. Lawmakers seek to pass a bill before lifelines expire at the end of 2020, but disagreements over state and local stimulus, unemployment assistance and stimulus checks still exist.
News reports have Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s staff informing congressional leadership offices that Senate Republicans likely would not support a $908-billion bipartisan proposal. Earlier on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that bipartisan negotiations were leading to "great progress."
The House has passed a one-week federal spending extension to avoid a shutdown through Dec. 18 to buy more time to reach a stimulus agreement.
Share of companies hardest hit by the pandemic recession fell in pr-market trading Friday. Carnival, United Airlines and Gap each fell 1%. Tesla shares fell 1.7% after a surprise downgrade by Jefferies.
Without fresh stimulus, millions of Americans could lose unemployment benefits in the New Year. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims jumped last week to 853,000, the highest total since Sept. 19, as new lockdown restrictions weighed on businesses amid rising coronavirus cases.
Sentiment was downbeat on Friday even as a key Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended the approval of Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. The recommendation marked the last step before the FDA gives the final approval to broadly distribute the first doses throughout the U.S.
Bucking the negative trend was Disney. On Thursday, the company said its Disney+ service has 86.8 million subscribers and expects have between 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024. The stock rose 7% in pre-market trading.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 0.88% from Thursday’s 0.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost three cents to $46.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $8.50 to $1,845.90.
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