Canada's main stock index opened lower on Wednesday, retreating from the rally a day earlier, as investors remained cautious amid renewed global restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron variant cases, with healthcare shares leading losses.
The S&P/TSX Composite faded 23.9 points from Tuesday’s huge gains, to open Wednesday at 20,900.97.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.22 cents at 77.60 cents U.S.
Dye & Durham said on Tuesday it will acquire Australia-listed Link Administration Holdings Ltd for about $3.2 billion. Shares in the cloud services provider leaped $6.41, or 15.4%, to $47.98.
BlackBerry beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue on Tuesday, helped by sustained demand for its cybersecurity and Internet of Things products. The company once known as Research In Motion moved backward 64 cents, or 5.4%, to $11.31.
CIBC cut the rating on Bank of Montreal to neutral from outperform. Meanwhile, Scotiabank also lowered its rating on "The First Canadian Bank" to sector perform from sector outperform. BMO shares gathered 97 cents to $134.11.
Scotiabank raised the target price on Canadian National Railway to $166.00 from $160.00
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked higher 0.21 points to 909.67.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour, with gold slumping 1.2%, while energy and health-care each faded 1%.
The three gainers were information technology, up 0.4%, while real-estate and financials were each better by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were little changed Wednesday a day after the major averages rebounded from a three-day losing streak spurred by fears about the omicron COVID variant.
The Dow Jones Industrials grabbed 64.42 points to open Wednesday at 35,557.12
The S&P 500 index gained 13.1 points to 4,661.62,
The NASDAQ climbed 44.26 points at 15,385.34.
Trading is expected to be thin for the remainder of the week ahead of the holidays.
Caterpillar rose 1.5% after Bernstein upgraded the stock, saying the machinery maker will be a key beneficiary of a rebound in global growth.
Tesla shares gained 3% after Elon Musk said in a podcast that he had reached his goal of selling 10% of his shares for tax reasons.
December, normally the calmest month for markets, has so far been the most volatile month of 2021, according to Bespoke Investment Group that looked at the S&P 500's average absolute daily change since 1953.
Prices for 10-year were unchanged, keeping yields at Tuesday’s 1.47%.
Oil prices tacked on 24 cents to $71.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $4.30 to $1,793.00 U.S. an ounce.
