Canada's main stock index was little changed on Wednesday, with gains in financials offset by weakness in energy shares, as tensions over Ukraine eased with the prospect of dialogue between the United States and Russia on
the crisis.
The S&P/TSX composite index greeted noon up 5.58 points to 14,295.44
The Canadian dollar gained 0.31 at 90.45 cents U.S., following the Bank of Canada's interest rate announcement.
Financials, climbed as Royal Bank of Canada added 0.8% to $72.43, and Bank of Nova Scotia rose 0.9% to $63.66.
Gold-mining stocks also advanced, with Goldcorp gaining 0.7% to $30.23 and Barrick Gold adding 0.5% to $22.74.
A decline in the price of oil weighed on shares of energy producers. In the group, Canadian Natural Resources lost 0.3% to $40.81.
Economically speaking, the Bank of Canada announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1%. The Bank Rate is 1 1/4% and the deposit rate is 3/4 of 1%.
The central bank added that both total CPI and core inflation in Canada are still expected to follow roughly the path outlined in the bank’s January Monetary Policy Report, although recent readings were slightly higher than expected. Excess supply in the economy and competition in the retail sector will likely keep inflation well below the 2% target this year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 6.40 points to 1,027.73.
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were still lower by lunch hour, as health-care stocks deferred 0.9%, global base metals suffered 0.7%, and consumer discretionary issues ducked downward 0.4%.
The half-dozen gainers were co-led by gold and materials, each up 0.5% and financials, up 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
After two volatile days for the market, stocks barely budged in morning trading Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 40 points to break for noon Wednesday at 16,355.88, following a climb Tuesday of more than 200 points.
The S&P 500 index nicked up 0.04 points to 1,874.46, improving on yesterday’s all-time high finish. The NASDAQ added 5.76 points to 4,357.73.
On the corporate front, eBay remained in focus as a spat between the company and activist investor Carl Icahn continued. In The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, eBay CEO John Donahoe said breaking up the company from PayPal is a bad idea. On CNBC Wednesday morning, Icahn continued to push for the spinoff, and said he's "never seen worse corporate governance than eBay."
Nonetheless, shares of eBay moved higher Wednesday.
Shares of Hovnanian were down sharply after the homebuilder's revenue came in below expectations. That may be another sign that that the housing market recovery could be losing steam.
Target shares were lower after the company said it is replacing tech chief Beth Jacob in the wake of the retailer's massive data breach.
Smith & Wesson surged almost 20% after the gun maker reported sales jumped 7%., with handgun sales up 30%. Shares of rival Sturm Ruger, which reported disappointed sales last week, rose as well.
PetSmart's revenue fell short of forecasts, sending shares of the pet supplies retailer down nearly 3%.
Wednesday's pause comes as the high-stakes standoff between Ukraine and Russia continues, with both sides insisting they don't want war.
The European Union announced that it was offering an aid package to Ukraine worth € 11 billion. Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to meet Russian leaders as the U.S. considers implementing economic sanctions against Russia after the country's forces took control of Crimea. EU officials have also said they are considering sanctions.
Economically speaking, U.S. payroll processing firm ADP reported that private sector employers added just 139,000 jobs in February. That missed economists' forecasts.
Like many of the other weak economic reports lately, economists were quick to blame the disappointing number on snow and ice.
The mediocre report is worrisome two days before the government will release the official numbers for job growth and unemployment for February. Economists expect that 150,000 jobs were added last month, up from only 113,000 jobs added in January.
They expect the unemployment rate to remain at 6.6%
In the afternoon, the U.S. Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book report about the health of regional economies.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries regained ground, lowering yields to Tuesday’s 2.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $1.26 to $102.07 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $1.40 to $1,339.30 U.S. an ounce.
