Canada's main stock index was little changed on Wednesday as comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen weighed on sentiment, offsetting a jump in shares of Encana Corp after the company signed a deal to buy a U.S. shale oil assets.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 44.11 points to end Wednesday at 14,656.40. The Canadian benchmark index is up more than 7% this year.
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.03 cents at 91.79 cents U.S.
Encana gained 4.6% to $25.69 after the company said it is buying producing assets in the Eagle Ford shale field in Texas from Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold for $3.1 billion, nearly doubling its oil output.
Investors also digested a wave of quarterly reports, including several from energy companies. Shares of Talisman Energy, Husky Energy and Enbridge all advanced after they posted profits.
Talisman climbed 8% to $12.02 after the company posted a first-quarter profit, compared with a year-earlier loss, as oil and natural gas liquids production in North America soared 45%.
Husky reported a bigger-than-expected 24% rise in first-quarter profit, helped by stronger prices for crude oil, natural gas liquids and bitumen. The stock added 1.9% to $36.15.
Enbridge reported a 56% rise in quarterly profit, sending shares of the pipeline company up 0.6% to $53.31.
But Tim Hortons gave back 1.3% to $58.89 after the coffee and snacks chain reported results that fell short of market expectations.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that building permits totaled $6 billion in March, down 3% from February. The March decline followed an 11.3% decrease the previous month.
The nation’s number-crunchers added that lower construction intentions in the non-residential sector in six provinces, led by Ontario, more than offset a gain in the residential sector.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 4.58 points to 1,001.04
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive by the end of the session, led by telecoms, up 1.1%, real-estate, up 1%, and industrials, up 0.8%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by gold, down 2%, information technology, down 1.5%, and the metals and mining group, off 1.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
It was a tug of war on Wall Street today: Many tech stocks plunged again while "blue-chip" companies gained.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 117.52 points to 16,518.54
The S&P 500 added 10.49 points to 1,878.21, but the NASDAQ composite index fell 13.09 points to 4,067.67, amid selloffs for stocks like Groupon and Weibo
Traders are also buzzing about Alibaba's long awaited U.S. initial public offering, which could be the biggest in U.S. history. But Yahoo, a major shareholder in Alibaba, tumbled 6% as observers said the landmark filing left many questions unanswered.
While many expected the biggest talking point of the day to be Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, tech stocks again took center stage, and it wasn't a pretty bow. After a brutal selloff on Tuesday, Twitter shares tumbled to a new all-time low below $30 U.S.
Shares of Groupon dove 19% after the daily deals company logged a larger-than-expected quarterly loss.
NYSE-listed AOL plunged 21% as the company's ad-driven revenue growth was overshadowed by tumbling profits. The 64% decline in earnings was driven by restructuring charges as well as writedowns.
Other Internet stocks being hit include Weibo, SINA, Pandora and Facebook, Tesla and SolarCity are set to report after the close.
Even some non-tech stocks listed on the NASDAQ struggled, evidenced by the 20% plummet for Whole Foods. The specialty grocer was hammered after reporting sub-par results and dimming its outlook.
Investors paid close attention to Janet Yellen's testimony on Capitol Hill this morning. She said she believes a "high degree of monetary policy accommodation remains warranted" due to the health of the job market. That's code for not raising interest rates any time soon, which should help risk assets like stocks.
Yellen's script has so far largely mirrored the Fed's statement last week when it decided to dial back its bond-buying program by an additional $10 billion U.S.. The Fed chief blamed bad weather for the economy's ugly first quarter, but said growth should rebound.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were unchanged, keeping yields at Tuesday’s 2.59%.
Oil prices gained $1.30 to $100.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faltered $18.30 to $1,290.30 U.S. an ounce.
