Stocks in Toronto took a plunge at the open on Thursday, as focus shifted from Syria to the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus program.
The S&P/TSX composite index began Thursday dipped 76.37 points to 12,749.05
The Canadian dollar was down 0.13 cents to 96.79 cents U.S.
Encana Corp signaled a potential sale of dry natural gas assets as it focuses on more-lucrative oil and gas liquids. Encana shares hiked 26 cents to $18.19
Hudson's Bay Co reported higher second-quarter sales as strong apparel sales at its Canadian namesake stores offset lower customer traffic at its Lord & Taylor chain in the United States. Bay stock picked up a penny to open at $17.06
BRP Inc, the maker of Ski-Doo snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft and Evinrude outboard motors, posted a bigger second-quarter loss.
The net loss widened to $7.9 million from $2.9 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 2% to $620.9 million. BRP shares shed 83 cents to $26.50
Empire Co. reported a 24% fall in first-quarter profit from continuing operations as competition increased and expenses rose due to its acquisition of the Canadian assets of Safeway Inc. Empire shares fell $4.60, or 5.7%, to $76.51
Travel operator Transat AT Inc reported a three-fold jump in third-quarter adjusted profit but said earnings in the current quarter would likely be weaker on a sequential basis. Transat shares zoomed $1.72, or 19.1%, to $10.72.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported this morning that its new housing price index rose 0.2% in July, following an identical increase the previous month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 6.37 points to begin the trading day at 937.86
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower in the first hour of trading, as gold tumbled 4.3%, materials shed 3%, and metals and mining docked 2%.
The three gainers were information technology, up 0.4%, while real estate and energy stocks each took on 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The September rally is losing some steam after recent gains have pushed major indexes close to record levels.
Even so, the Dow Jones Industrials gained 6.38 points to 15,333.
The S&P 500 index dipped 1.97 points to 1,687.16. The NASDAQ added 3.07 points to 3,728.08
In corporate news, yoga-wear producer lululemon announced a jump in quarterly sales and profit, but shares slumped as the company lowered its guidance for the year.
Shares in Men's Wearhouse sank after the company reported disappointing quarterly earnings on Wednesday. Vera Bradley shares tumbled after the handbag producer offered weak guidance.
On the bright side, shares of grocery chain Kroger moved higher on better-than-expected earnings and sales.
Facebook shares opened at a fresh all-time high Thursday, a day after topping $45 U.S. since its first day of turbulent trading on May 18, 2012.
Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt Wednesday evening, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is better off for having gone through its rocky IPO.
Shares of Apple rose slightly a day after billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he boosted his stake in the company as shares tumbled more than 5% Wednesday due to disappointment with the two new iPhones.
Investors continue to remain wary about the U.S. Federal Reserve, which could decide to cut back on its quantitative easing program this month. The Fed has previously indicated that it was considering scaling back on this massive, liquidity-boosting program, which has supported a big rally in stock markets around the world.
On the economic front, the government's weekly report showed that first-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped sharply to 292,000 -- their lowest level since early 2006. But the U.S. Labor Department noted that two states did not report complete data last week, which skewed the total figure.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury spiked, lowering yields to 2.87% from Wednesday’s 2.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 39 cents to $107.95 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $33.20 at $1,330.60 U.S. an ounce.
