Canada's main stock index was flat at market open on Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting, while health-care stocks posted gains on upbeat results from eye-care firm Bausch + Lomb.
The TSX eked up 9.54 points to kick off Wednesday at 20,262.18.
The Canadian dollar backed off 0.04 cents to 73.88 cents U.S.
Bausch & Lomb marched ahead 25 cents to $25.23.
In company news, a Brookfield-led consortium on Tuesday trimmed its offer for Origin Energy by 1%, valuing the Australian power producer and energy retailer at A$15.33 billion ($10.5 billion U.S.), after government's move to cap gas prices hit valuations in the sector. Brookfield shares collected seven cents to $46.70.
Equinox Gold beat fourth-quarter profit estimates but the gold miner posted a decline in earnings hurt by lower production and higher operating costs amid inflationary pressures. Equinox jumped 36 cents, or 7.5%, to $5.14.
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers reported a fourth-quarter profit beat, with a rise in net income boosted by higher interest income. Ritchie stock gained 34 cents to $83.50.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said new home prices in Canada declined 0.2% month over month in January. Prices were down or unchanged in 25 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed and up in two.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.85 points to 627.36.
Eight of the 12 subgroups gained ground, with health-care soaring 1.1%, information technology jumping 0.8%, and consumer staples rose 0.5%.
The four laggards were led by gold, down 1.2%, materials, backpedaling 0.6%, and financials, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell slightly Wednesday as the market struggled to recover from its worst day of the year. Traders also braced for the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes and more insight on the central bank’s future hiking agenda.
The Dow Jones Industrials shed 28.17 points to 33,101.42,
The S&P 500 dropped 8.27 points to 3,989.07.
The NASDAQ Composite fell 26.49 to 11,465.81.
Walmart and Cisco Systems drove the losses on the Dow, falling more than 1% each. Shares of Palo Alto Networks popped 10.7% after the cybersecurity company lifted its earnings forecast for the year. Crypto exchange platform Coinbase topped revenue expectations, but shares fell 2%.
The Fed minutes are due at 2 p.m. ET. Investors will scour the results for insight into the central bank’s future rate hiking path and its recent 25-basis-point increase.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury strengthened, lowering yields to 3.92% from Tuesday’s 3.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave back 77 cents to $75.59 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained 30 cents to $1,842.80 U.S. an ounce.
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