Equities opened lower on Wednesday as TD Bank extended declines, weighing down the heavyweight financial sector, while the weak U.S. private payrolls data added to worries about a potential recession.
The TSX decreased 57.8 points, to kick off Wednesday at 20,217.96.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.01 cents to 74.42 cents U.S.
In company news, TD shares stumbled $2.77, or 3.4%, to $78.64.
Bernstein raised Canopy Growth to "market perform" from "underperform". Shares in the cannabis company gave up two cents to $2.25.
Hut 8 Mining announced its March production and operations update. Hut 8 shares lost two cents to $2.36.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Canadian international merchandise trade decreased in February. Exports were down 2.4%, while imports decreased 1.3%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world narrowed from $1.2 billion in January to $422 million in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.64 points to 628.40.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower to start the session, with financials and information technology each skidding 0.7%, while materials were off 0.6%.
The five gainers were led by utilities, ahead 0.6%, gold, up 0.4%, and consumer staples, ahead 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was modestly lower on Wednesday as traders assessed the state of the global economy following a losing session.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 52.34 points to 33,454.72.
The S&P 500 moved lower 12.46 points to 4,0.88.14.
The NASDAQ dropped 107.63 points to 12,018.70.
Wednesday’s losses were stemmed by solid gains for a few large stocks. Johnson & Johnson shares rose 3% after the pharmaceutical company said Tuesday it would pay $8.9 billion over the next 25 years to settle claims that its talc products caused cancer. FedEx climbed more than 2% after announcing a reorganization and dividend hike.
Meanwhile, the energy market added to uncertainty this week after OPEC+ said it would cut output by 1.16 million barrels of oil per day.
Wednesday’s moves came as traders mulled over the latest ADP private payrolls report, which showed slowing job growth in March.
That followed Tuesday’s job openings report that suggested the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the labour market might finally be having an effect. In February, the number of available positions fell below 10 million for the first time in nearly two years.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury strengthened, lowering yields to 3.28% from Tuesday 3.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices listed lower 58 cents to $80.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices nicked up $2.50 to $2,040.70 U.S. an ounce.
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