Canada's main stock index opened only slightly above breakeven on Thursday, as energy shares fell alongside the price of oil.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index poked 1.07 points to begin Thursday at 15,111.26. The index has seen nine straight winning sessions.
The Canadian dollar doffed 0.2 cents to 75.21 cents U.S.
Husky Energy said it will not extend its hostile bid for MEG Energy after failing to get sufficient support from the rival oil producer's board and shareholders. Husky shares rocketed $1.90, or 12.2%, to $17.43.
Kinder Morgan Canada said on Wednesday its quarterly profit from continuing operations more than doubled as the company benefited from strong performance in its pipeline and terminal business. Kinder shares gained 17 cents, or 1.2%, to $14.48.
Bombardier aims to make a decision this year on the future of its CRJ regional jet as it "aggressively" pursues new orders to secure its industrial future, the Canadian planemaker's chief executive officer said on Wednesday. Bombardier shares acquired a penny to $2.03.
Canaccord Genuity cut the price target on Iamgold to $8.50 from $9.00. Iamgold shares wilted 14 cents, or 3.3%, to $4.10.
National Bank of Canada cut the price target on Park Lawn Corp. to $30.00 from $32.00. Park Lawn shares gained one cent to $24.79.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 1.22 points to 596.82.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, led by
real-estate, ahead 0.4%, while consumer discretionary and utilities each picked up 0.3%.
The five laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 1.8%, energy, settling 0.7%, and materials, scaling back 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Thursday after Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results disappointed investors. Wall Street also grappled with uncertainty around the Chinese economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 49.82 points to 24,157.34, as Home Depot and Caterpillar lagged.
The S&P 500 lost 2.2 points to 2,613.90, led by losses in financials, industrials and energy.
The NASDAQ Composite eked up 0.79 points to 7,035.48
Morgan Stanley reported earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street estimates. The company’s results were dragged down by poor performances in its trading and wealth management businesses. Morgan Stanley shares fell 4%
Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo also reported quarterly earnings this week. American Express and Netflix are scheduled to report after the close Thursday. Netflix’s earnings will arrive after the streaming giant announced it would raise monthly subscription prices by 13% to 18%, a move that was cheered by Wall Street earlier this week.
Thursday’s moves come after the major indexes posted solid gains in the previous session, lifted by the sharp gains in Goldman and Bank of America. The major indexes also came with solid gains for the week, having risen at least 0.8%.
Concerns over China appeared to weigh on sentiment Thursday. China’s central bank made its biggest ever daily net cash injection via reverse repo operations, pumping $82.73 billion U.S. into the banking system. The news came after comments from the Chinese state planner and Premier Li Keqiang suggested the country would inject more stimulus amid concerns of a slowdown in economic growth.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell back, raising yields to 2.74% from Wednesday’s 2.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hesitated 76 cents to $51.55 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices weakened three dollars to $1,290.80 U.S. an ounce.
