Equities in Canada’s largest market were muted on Wednesday, mirroring global stocks, ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy outcome that is likely to signal a quicker end to the central bank's stimulus measures.
The S&P/TSX Composite dumped 99.88 points by the closing bell Tuesday to 20,648.57.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.31 cents at 77.77 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX in the early going was Blackberry which jumped 23 cents, or 2.1%, to $11.29, after it entered into a multi-year agreement with automobile manufacturer BMW to collaborate and develop technology for its next-generation vehicles.
Scotiabank raised the price target on Constellation Software to $2,500 from $2,400. Constellation shares hiked $33.13, or 1.5%, to $2,233.13.
National Bank of Canada initiated coverage on D2L with an outperform rating. D2L shares docked eight cents to $14.07.
JP Morgan raised the target price on Lithium Americas to $53.00 from $49.00. Lithium shares ditched $1.80, or 4.6%, to $37.52.
The Canadian dollar dished off 0.06 cents to 77.66 cents U.S. early Wednesday.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that Canada's annual inflation rate remained at 4.7% in November, an 18-year high, amid the continued impact of supply chain disruptions.
As well, the agency reported manufacturing sales rose 4.3% in October, on higher sales of motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts. Excluding these two industries, manufacturing sales increased 1.7%.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported Wednesday that housing starts rose to 301,279 units in November, beating analyst expectations of 234,300 starts, and up from a revised 238,366 units in October.
The Canadian Real Estate Association was due out with MLS sales of homes for November.
CBC News is reporting Canada is expected to toughen restrictions on international travel with new measures to be announced on Wednesday as it looks to limit the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Canada on Tuesday cut its deficit forecast for this fiscal year and pledged new funds to fight the Omicron coronavirus variant, while spending promised in this year's election campaign would likely be put in a full budget early next year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 5.27 points to 872.39.
All but four of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour, with energy down 1.9%, materials off 0.9%, and health-care, retreating 0.7%.
The three gainers were consumer staples, advancing 0.5%, while industrials took on 0.3%, and financials, eking up 0.1%.
Utilities were unchanged in the first hour.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks dipped on Wednesday morning as investors readied for Wednesday’s highly anticipated Federal Reserve decision.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved backwards 92.58 points to 35,451.60,
The S&P 500 index lost 5.48 points to 4,628.61.
The NASDAQ faded 48.47 points at 15,189.17.
Energy stocks struggled on Wednesday morning, with Occidental Petroleum falling more than 4%. Eli Lilly rose more than 8% each to lead the S&P 500 after the pharmaceutical company said it expected earnings to rise next year. Boeing was one of the worst performers in the Dow, falling about 2.2%.
The Fed will conclude its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday and the public will hear from central bank Chairman Jerome Powell at a 2:30 p.m. ET news conference.
The Fed is grappling with the highest inflation level in 39 years and the central bank is widely expected to announce an acceleration of the tapering of its bond-buying program, which was put in place during the pandemic to prop up the economy.
One survey predicts the Fed will double the pace of the taper to $30 billion at its December meeting, which would end the $120 billion in monthly asset purchases by about March. The central bank will then hike rates three times in each of the next two years, starting in June 2022, the survey respondents predict.
Retail sales for November came in worse than expected, rising 0.3% month-over-month. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were looking for a 0.8% month.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys fell a bit, raising yields to 1.45% from Tuesday’s 1.44%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.04 to $69.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices doffed $4.30 to $1,768.00 U.S. an ounce.
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