Canada's main stock index opened lower on Wednesday, led by mining and energy stocks, as gold and silver hit fresh peaks and oil extended gains amid rising geopolitical tensions.
The TSX lost 78.50 points to open Wednesday at 32,791.80.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.04 cents to 72.05 cents U.S.
Also in focus is Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to China on Wednesday, as the nation seeks to diversify trade away from the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that while the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement was irrelevant for his country, "Canada would love it. Canada wants it. They need it." The agreement is up for review this year.
Telecommunications company Cogeco Communications and industrial manufacturer Velan are scheduled to announce their quarterly results later in the day.
Cogeco gained 71 cents, or 1.1%, to $68.02, while shares in Velan docked 33 cents, or 1.7%, to $18.90.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tailed off 7.91 points to 1,090.14.
Still, all but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, led by energy, rumbling 1.5%, telecoms, ahead 1%, and real-estate, 0.7% more solid.
The three laggards were information technology, down 2.9%, financials, trailing 0.4%, and gold, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks moved lower on Wednesday for a second day, pulling back further from record levels, while traders digested a fresh batch of earnings and monitored geopolitical developments.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 103.59 points to 49,088.40
The S&P 500 index tumbled 42 points to 6,921.74.
The NASDAQ weakened 223.14 points to 23,486.73.
Wells Fargo was among the laggards in the session, falling more than 4% after the company posted weaker-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter. Bank of America dropped around 4%.
Stocks were lower even after delayed producer price index and retail sales data for November came in solid.
Geopolitical uncertainty also weighed on sentiment Wednesday, with oil rising for a fifth day amid fears of supply disruptions as a result of civil unrest in Iran — a top member of OPEC — and mounting tensions between that country and the U.S.
President Donald Trump canceled all meetings with Iranian officials on Tuesday and told protesters that “help is on its way.” Crude oil prices advanced more than 2% that day and were last up around 1% Wednesday.
Crunch talks are also set to take place Wednesday between the Trump administration and Greenlandic and Danish officials as Trump pushes for U.S. control of Greenland. The president was resolute in his position heading into the meeting, deeming anything less than Greenland becoming a part of the U.S. as “unacceptable.”
Prices for the 10-year Treasury inched up, lowering yields to 4.15%, from Tuesday’s 4.17%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices advanced 41 cents to $61.56 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $28.30 to $4,627.40.
