Canadian stocks opened slightly higher on Wednesday
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 19.76 points to open at 14,699.57
The Canadian dollar nicked higher 0.04 cents to 91.74 cents U.S.
Sears Holding Corp. said it was looking to sell its 51% stake in Sears Canada Inc and could even put the whole Canadian department store operator up for sale. Sears Canada stock ballooned 64 cents, or 4.1%, to $16.40
Canaccord Genuity raised the rating on Entrec Corp to buy from hold. Entrec inched ahead two cents to $1.39.
CIBC cut the rating on Inter Pipeline to sector perform from outperform. Inter Pipeline shares retreated 27 cents to $30.27.
Canaccord Genuity, RBC raised the target price on Parex Resources, whose shares gained nine cents to $12.05 in the trading day’s first hour.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was higher 5.68 points to 994.03
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups headed north, led by gold, up 1.1%, materials, better by 0.9% and energy, increasing 0.5%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by financials, down 0.2%, while health-care and utilities each lost 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
After taking out fresh records on Tuesday, U.S. stocks started flat to slightly lower on Wednesday morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 53.21 points from yesterday’s all-time high finish, to 16,662.23
The S&P 500 dipped 3.74 points to 1,893.71, but the NASDAQ composite index sagged 6.68 points to 4,123.29
The early action threatens to halt Wall Street's three-day string of record closes and the Dow Jones industrial average's five-day winning streak.
The retail sector is in focus today, headlined by Sears Holdings
Sears climbed 1% after revealing plans to either unload its 51% stake in Sears Canada or sell the brand north of the border entirely. The announcement comes as Sears struggles to stem the bleeding in its core business.
Macy's logged quarterly earnings that topped estimates by a penny, but the department store's revenue trailed expectations as same-store sales fell 1.6%. All that said, Macy's stock rose 1% in early trading after the company hiked its dividend by 25% and boosted share buyback plans by $1.5 billion U.S.
Outside the retail world, tractor company Deere reported profits and sales that topped forecasts, but the company dimmed its outlook amid declining equipment sales.
Sodastream International lost some of its fizz, sliding 2% after the company disclosed a 28% tumble in American sales. Those losses offset growth overseas.
Sony slumped 6% after showing sales rose but projecting a full-year loss of $489 million U.S, its sixth in seven years. The Japanese electronics maker said a big reason behind the jump in sales was favorable foreign exchange rates.
Shares of Fossil, best known for its watches and jewelry, dropped 7% as investors expressed disappointment over the company's declining profits and soaring expenses.
After-the-bell earnings are on tap from Cisco Systems and SeaWorld Entertainment. Retailers Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney will steal the earnings spotlight tomorrow.
Some of the biggest loser stocks on the NASDAQ include Keurig Green Mountain and Tesla Motors, two of the big momentum movers dented by the recent rotation into value stocks.
Inflation hawks may finally have something to crow about. The U.S. Labor Department said producer prices popped 0.6% in April, the biggest jump since September 2012.
Economists had modeled for a softer increase of 0.2%.
Investors will get to see whether or not producers passed those higher prices down to customers on Thursday when the government releases its consumer price index.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries jumped sharply, lowering yields to 2.56% from Tuesday’s 2.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices added 61 cents to $102.31 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $12.40 to $1,307.20 U.S. an ounce.
