The Toronto stock market teetered a bit at Thursday’s open, amid uncertainty over events south of the border.
The S&P/TSX composite index began Thursday down 13.43 points at 14,170.67, after Wednesday’s 100-point-plus tumble
The Canadian dollar gained 0.13 cents at 90.21 cents U.S.
Negotiators reached a deal to end the month-long container truck strike in Vancouver that had slowed the transport of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of goods.
Taseko Mines asked a judge to set aside decisions by Canada's environment minister and cabinet to reject its plans to build a copper-gold mine in British Columbia. Taseko shares took on a penny to $2.16.
Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage on Manitok Energy with a buy rating. Manitok shares ducked back two cents to $2.27.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tumbled 16.35 points to 986.90
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, with metals and mining progressing 0.6%, materials improving 0.5% and gold gaining 0.4%.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by health-care, 1% less hale, industrials, weaker by 0.7%, and information technology clicking 0.6% lower.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks continued their late March swoon Thursday -- and banks were among the bigger losers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 38.02 points to 16,230.97. The S&P 500 index was off 4.48 points to 1,848.08. The NASDAQ regressed 11.46 points to 4,162.12
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve rejected Citigroup's capital plan, saying it was troubled by the bank's inability to predict how much it could lose in a severe economic downturn. It banned the bank from any dividend hikes or share repurchases for the next year.
Citigroup shares dropped 5% Thursday.
Citi was among 30 large banks required to submit capital plans for an annual stress tests. The Fed approved 25 plans. Citi and four other smaller banks were turned down.
But Bank of America shares were up Thursday after it announced an increase in its dividend and a new stock buyback plan. The bank also unveiled a $9.5-billion U.S. settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The deal settles all litigation between Bank of America and the agency over the use of mortgage-backed securities in the run up to the housing meltdown.
On the earnings front, Lululemon popped after the yogawear maker reported quarterly increases in revenue and net income. But it also had a slide in same-store sales.
GameStop shares fell nearly 8% after the video game retailer missed earnings missed estimates and gave a lackluster outlook for the current quarter.
Accenture dropped about 7% after reporting a decline in quarterly net income. The technology services company was recently hired to work on the Obamacare website.
BlackBerry was downgraded to a "sell" by an analyst at Société Générale. Shares slumped on the news. The stock has had a rough go of it in recent years, but has rallied around 20% this year on hopes of a turnaround. The company will report its latest quarterly results on Friday morning.
King Digital Entertainment shares fell again. The maker of online game Candy Crush Saga took a beating in its initial public offering on Wednesday.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.69% from Wednesday’s 2.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.07 to $101.33 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $4.20 to $1,299.20 U.S. an ounce.
