Futures for this country’s stock index fell on Wednesday, tracking weaker bullion prices, while investors remained cautious ahead of the release of the country's economic growth data.
The TSX Composite index enjoyed gains of 25.77 points to end Tuesday’s session at 20,171.02.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.08 cents to 80.75 cents U.S.
September futures subsided 0.3% Wednesday.
Thursday, markets in Canada are closed in honour of Canada Day.
RBC raised the target price on Alimentation Couche-Tard to $57.00 from $56.00
National Bank of Canada cut the price target on Canadian National Railway to $140.00 from $143.00
TD Securities cut the rating on Labrador Iron Ore Royalty to hold from buy.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said its raw materials price index increased 3.2% on a monthly basis in May and was up 40.1% year-over-year, while its industrial product price index rose 2.7% month-over-month in May and was up 16.4% compared with May 2020.
The agency also reported that real gross domestic product contracted 0.3% April, the first decline in 12 months, as 12 of 20 industrial sectors were down.
The Senate on Tuesday adopted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government's budget bill, the final step in extending COVID-19 supports through the summer and ahead of a likely election in the fall.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.99 points Tuesday to 946.79.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were slightly lower Wednesday as the market gets set to close out a winning first half of 2021 and second quarter.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 11 points to 34,159.
Futures for the S&P 500 slid 1.75 points to 4,280.25.
The NASDAQ skidded 3.25 points to 14,559.75.
The three biggest winners in the Dow this year so far are Goldman Sachs, American Express and Walgreens Boots Alliance, all up more than 30%. Chevron, Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase are up more than 20% each. Tech and health care sectors of the S&P 500 both closed at records Tuesday.
The gains came as nearly 60% of U.S. adults have received a COVID-19 vaccine, allowing the economy to open back up at a rapid pace.
Still, new variants of the virus have raised some concerns that more restrictions such as mask wearing would have to be reinstituted because the pace of vaccinations has slowed.
Wednesday is the last day of the second quarter and final day of the first half of 2021. So far on the year, the S&P 500 is up 14%, while the NASDAQ Composite and the Dow are up 12% apiece. For the quarter, the S&P 500 is up 8%. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ all posted fresh record closes on Tuesday.
The S&P 500 is headed for its fifth positive month in a row, up 2.1% in June.
Big Tech shares including Apple and Facebook were slightly weaker in premarket trading Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Biden administration is working on an executive order that would direct government agencies to increase scrutiny of industries where a few companies are dominant. It’s the latest in a series of moves by Biden to rein in the power of big business, especially in the tech
industry.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.1% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 0.6%.
Oil prices gained 77 cents to $73.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked three dollars to $1,760.60 U.S. a pound
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