Markets in Toronto began Wednesday slightly ahead, a day after investor confidence got a boost from Tuesday's U.S. housing and consumer confidence data.
The S&P/TSX composite index began the day up 24.18 points at 14,323.67
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.08 cents at 89.62 cents U.S.
Blackstone Group is close to a deal to buy industrial conglomerate Gates Global Inc from owners Onex Corp and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for more than $5.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Onex shares were up 25 cents to $61.50
Goldcorp Chairman Ian Telfer said his company would rather walk away from its hostile bid for Osisko Mining Corp than pay too much.
Telfer did not, however, rule out a higher bid. Goldcorp shares ducked back 28 cents, or 1%, to $28.22 while Osisko shares dipped 16 cents to $7.25
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 0.90 points to 1,019.16
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers, as consumer discretionary and telecom stocks each garnered 0.4% and energy issues took on 0.3%.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by the gold and metals and mining groups, each sliding 0.7%, while information technology faded 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
With little economic news to set the tone, investors focused on a number of big technology firms that were making waves early Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gathered 38.17 points to 16,406.05. The S&P 500 index was up 4.61 points to 1,870.23. The NASDAQ prospered 6.03 points to 4,240.30
The king of the hour was supposed to be the maker of Candy Crush, which rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in honour of its debut, but it shares immediately traded down over 10%.
Facebook shares edged higher after the company announced a $2-billion U.S. acquisition of virtual reality firm Oculus VR late Tuesday. Oculus makes a headset for "immersive gaming" that Facebook plans to develop in to a communications and education platform.
The move helped boost shares of Himax Technologies, a Taiwan-based company that makes components used in so-called wearable technology. Shares of Sony, which recently unveiled a similar virtual reality headset for its PlayStation gaming system, were little changed.
Shares in King, maker of the popular online game Candy Crush Saga, begin trading after its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange was priced at $22.50 a share, raising nearly $500 million U.S. and valuing the company at about $7.6 billion U.S.
In other tech news, International Game Technology didn't have the luckiest morning. Shares fell after the company, which makes casino games such as slot machines, said it is planning to cut 7% of its staff and lowered its earnings guidance for the year. The stock has lost 18% so far this year.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.73% from Tuesday’s 2.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 61 cents to $99.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell 50 cents to $1,310.90 U.S. an ounce.
