Equities in Canada’s largest market faded slightly on Wednesday after crude oil prices reached their highest in about a year, as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ forecast of a deficit in 2021 raised demand recovery hopes.
The S&P/TSX Composite slid 9.79 points to begin Wednesday at 17,864.70.
The Canadian dollar edged higher 0.04 cents to 78.25 cents U.S.
Imperial Oil posted a quarterly loss on Tuesday and warned that the hit to fuel demand resulting from the coronavirus pandemic may drag on well into 2021.
IMO acquired 55 cents, or 2.3%, to $24.76.
Scotiabank cut the target price on TMX Group to $148.00 from $152.00. The company which owns the Toronto Stock Exchange saw its shares dip 32 cents to $126.16.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Onex Corp. to $88.00 from $84.00. Onex shares gained 45 cents to $70.75.
CIBC raised the target price on Linamar Corp. to $83.00 from $81.00. Linamar shares inched higher two cents to $68.57.
Canada has signed its first deal to allow a foreign coronavirus vaccine to be manufactured domestically, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday as new cases began to drop steadily.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange leaped 14.47 points, or 1.5%, to 977.88.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split, as health-care jumped 4.4%, while energy soared 1.6%, and materials picked up 0.6%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by industrials, down 0.6%, while information technology and real-estate each backed off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 held steady on Wednesday following a strong two-day rally, as investors digested strong earnings from some of the biggest technology companies.
The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 49.34 points, or 1.6%, to 30,638.14,
The S&P 500 inched up 3.56 points to 3,829.87.
The NASDAQ advanced 32.6 points to 13,645.43.
Shares of Google’s parent Alphabet surged more than 8% after the technology giant reported 23% revenue growth and topped estimates for earnings, boosted by Google’s recovering advertising business.
Amazon reported earnings nearly doubled Wall Street estimates, while delivering its biggest revenue of all time at $125.56 billion, pushing it past the symbolic $100 billion mark for the first time. The ecommerce leader also announced that Jeff Bezos was stepping down as CEO. Amazon’s stock traded 0.2% higher.
Wall Street was coming off a back-to-back rally as the Reddit-fueled retail trading frenzy dissipated, restoring investor confidence on the broader market. The 30-stock Dow is up over 2% this week after posting its best day since November on Tuesday. The S&P 500 has climbed more than 3% this week, while the NASDAQ has jumped more than 4%.
After a meteoric, albeit seemingly synthetic rise in GameStop last week caused by a short squeeze, shares have cratered more than 70% this week. Other Reddit trades have also come back down to Earth amid trading restrictions from major brokers. However, GameStop swung between gains and losses in volatile trading on Wednesday.
Investors are also monitoring negotiations in Washington surrounding another stimulus package. President Joe Biden met with the 10 Republican senators on Monday to discuss an alternative, smaller aid proposal to his $1.9-trillion package.
On the data front, private firms added 174,000 jobs in January, above the 50,000 Dow Jones estimate, according to a report Wednesday from payroll processing firm ADP.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys stumbled, raising yields to 1.12% from Tuesday’s 1.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices advanced $1.13 to $55.89 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recouped two dollars to $1,835.40 U.S. an ounce.
