Canada's main stock index inched lower at open on Wednesday, led by declines in rate-sensitive financials and technology stocks ahead of a crucial Bank of Canada's monetary policy decision.
The TSX Composite set aside 54.94 to open Wednesday at 18,931.55.
The Canadian dollar stumbled 0.35 cents at 72.42 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Bloomberg News reports Bank of Montreal is exploring the sale of a recreational vehicle loan portfolio. Shares in “The First Canadian Bank” dipped 34 cents to $34.64.
As expected, the Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5.25% and the deposit rate at 5%. The Bank is continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange let go of 0.81 points to 522.09.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour, with health-care woozy 2%, information technology clicking lower 1.4%, and real-estate off 1.3%.
The five gainers were led by consumer staples, better by 0.6%, while materials and gold each climbed 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Wednesday as a pullback in shares of Google-parent Alphabet led the broader tech space lower.
The Dow Jones Industrials withered 129.18 points to begin Wednesday at 33,012.20.
The S&P 500 index faltered 43.28 points to 4,204.40.
The NASDAQ slumped 208.96 points, or 1.1%, to 12,930.92.
The S&P 500 communication services sector declined nearly 5%, on track for its worst day since October 2022. Alphabet is the largest component of the sector.
Tech stocks were largely under pressure following Alphabet’s third-quarter results a day earlier, pushing investors to signal caution toward the broader sector. Alphabet shares tumbled more than 8% as its cloud business missed analysts’ estimates, overshadowing its revenue growth and earnings beat. The decline in Alphabet stock is its worst fall since October 2022.
Shares of peer tech behemoths and Apple descended 1% and Amazon, slipped 2.5%. Amazon is set to report third-quarter results after the closing bell on Thursday.
Microsoft stood out as an outlier among the decline in tech stocks on Tuesday, with shares gaining more than 4% after first-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates.
Tech firms IBM and Meta will post quarterly results in the afternoon. About 29% of S&P 500 companies have posted third-quarter earnings thus far. Of those companies, 78% have exceeded expectations.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, propelling yields to 4.91% from Tuesday’s 4.81%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 46 cents to $83.28 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $2.90 to $1,989.00.
