Stocks in Toronto fell to their lowest levels in a week on Wednesday, hit by a decline in shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc after the drug maker raised its takeover offer for Allergan Inc.
The S&P/TSX composite index staggered 76.44 points to greet noon Wednesday at 14,581.58
The Canadian dollar reversed 0.09 cents to 92 cents U.S.
Valeant's stock gave back 3% after the company increased the cash component of its unsolicited offer for Allergan Inc, valuing the U.S. drug maker at $49.44 billion.
Also weighing on the market, shares of the heavyweight energy and mining sectors were pulled lower by weaker commodity prices. Those groups have been among the best performers on the TSX this year.
But Bank of Montreal climbed after the lender's quarterly profit rose 12%, topping estimates, as strong capital markets and domestic lending income more than offset weakness at its U.S. retail bank unit.
Financials declined, with Royal Bank of Canada falling 0.7% to $74.77. But BMO added 0.4% to $77.10.
Shares of energy producers slipped as Canadian Natural Resources was down 0.9% at $43.56, and Suncor Energy Inc dropped 0.9% to $41.51.
Gold-mining shares shed strength, with Barrick Gold dropping 1.7% to $16.95, and Goldcorp falling 1.6% to $25.15.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 4.04 points to 981.69.
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were in the red midday. Metals and mining faded 1.9%, gold weakened 1.7%, and global base metals slid 1.4%.
The lone gainer proved to be in industrials, poking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks are hovering around Tuesday's record highs heading into lunch.
The S&P 500 is up slightly, and the Dow Jones Industrial average and NASDAQ are about flat.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained negative 22.38 points to 16,653.12
The S&P 500 inched up 0.25 points to 1,912.16, and the NASDAQ composite index retreated 4.60 points to 4,232.47
The S&P hit a record high on Tuesday, and investors are watching to see if the five-year bull market can continue its steady march upward.
Telsa Motors got zapped with junk bond status by ratings agency Standard & Poors, which pegged the electric car maker's $3 billion U.S. in debt a few notches below investment grade. The ratings firm said Tesla's narrow focus and lack of track record were behind the ratings. Shares were down less than 2% heading around midday.
Sometimes the shoe really doesn't fit. DSW, a discount shoe outlet, lost more than a quarter of its market cap in early trading, as earnings came in at the lower end of expectations and same-store sales growth fell 3.7% from the year before.
Michael Kors reported results before the opening bell. Profits were a bit better than expected and sales are up by more than half. The stock is relatively flat so far. Kors shares are up more than 17% since the start of the year as the brand seems to be winning the battle for upper middle class purse consumers.
Toll Brothers reported surprisingly strong earnings before the open, bouncing back from a disappointing start to the year because of the winter weather.
Revenue was closer in line with expectations. It was one of the few stocks enjoying a bounce this morning with shares up over 1.5%.
A handful of other homebuilder stocks are also seeing some small gains as well, including D.R. Horton, Lennar and PulteGroup
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries hiked, sharply lowering yields to 2.44% from Tuesday’s 2.52%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices dropped 49 cents to $103.62 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $7.20 to $1,258.30 U.S. an ounce.
