Canada's main stock index listed lower on Wednesday, as higher crude prices bolstered energy shares, while investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 64.82 points to reach noon hour at 20,840.46.
The Canadian dollar nicked ahead $0.07 at 77.99 cents U.S.
Tech stocks weighed the elevator downward, Softchoice tumbling $1.17, or 5%, to $22.10, while Kinaxis lost $6.52, or 4.7%, to $134.51.
Health-care also took its bruises, Bausch Health Companies being bashed $1.75, or 7.3%, to $22.19, while Tilray lost 22 cents, or 3.3%, to $6.43.
Among energy stocks, one of the few gainers, Paramount Resources picked up $2.01, or 6.3%, to $34.00, while MEG Energy climbed $1.07, or 5.2%, to $21.48.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada told us this country's merchandise trade increased substantially in March, with both imports and exports reaching record highs. Imports increased 7.7%, while exports rose 6.3%.
As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world narrowed from $3.1 billion in February to $2.5 billion in March.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange ditched 8.16 points, or 1%, to 786.49.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, with information technology down 2.9%, health-care off 2.7%, and consumer discretionary stocks, sliding 1.9%.
The two gainers were energy, up 0.6%, and utilities, up 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday as investors braced for the Federal Reserve’s big interest rate decision, where the central bank is widely expected to hike rates by half a percentage point.
The Dow Jones Industrials slipped 6.7 points to 33,122.09.
The S&P 500 dropped 10.06 points to 4,165.42.
The NASDAQ Composite plummeted 119.01 points, or 1%, to 12,444.75.
Markets are preparing for a hawkish Fed, and the central bank is also expected to announce a plan to cut its roughly $9 trillion balance sheet by $95 billion a month, beginning in June.
Respondents to a recent survey reckoned the central bank could raise rates half a percentage point, followed by a second one in June as it looks to cut its balance sheet. The majority of respondents also expect a recession at the end of the tightening cycle.
Weakness in some major tech stocks were weighing on the NASDAQ on Wednesday. Shares of Amazon and Netflix fell more than 2% each, while Google-parent Alphabet was off by 1%.
Corporate earnings reports were leading to notable moves on Wednesday. Lyft plummeted 29% after the ridesharing company shared on Tuesday evening weak guidance for the current quarter as it expects to invest in driver supply. Rival Uber dropped 8%.
Elsewhere, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices also moved higher following its report, gaining about 6%, after beating estimates and delivering strong guidance. Casino stock Caesars Entertainment was under pressure after the company missed estimates on the top and bottom lines.
Airbnb rose 3.6% as the company expects a continued travel rebound, and Starbucks added 2.4% after topping revenue estimates.
On the economic front, the private payrolls report from ADP showed an increase of 247,000 for April, well below the 390,000 Dow Jones estimate. The full labor department payrolls report for April is due out Friday.
Treasury prices gained only slightly, with yields falling to Tuesday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices popped $3.95 to $106.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $2.30 to $1,868.30 U.S. an ounce.
