Equities in Toronto declined on Wednesday as a sluggish outlook for the global economy spurred declines in the heavyweight energy and financial sectors.
The S&P/TSX composite index slumped 39.26 points to stop for lunch Wednesday at 14,865.12. The index is still up more than 9% this year.
The Canadian dollar tacked on 0.23 cents to 91.95 cents U.S.
Financials were down as Bank of Nova Scotia lost 0.2% to $70.69, and Royal Bank of Canada gave back 0.2% to $75.07.
Shares of energy producers shed strength, despite higher oil prices. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd fell 0.5% to $45.93, and TransCanada Corp slipped 0.2% to $50.32.
The World Bank on Tuesday trimmed its global growth forecast, saying a confluence of events, from the Ukraine crisis to unusually cold weather in the United States, dampened economic expansion in the first half of the year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 2.83 points to 984.09
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower, with telecoms down 1.2%, health-care fading 1.1%, and real-estate down 0.7%
The three gainers were gold, up 1.4%, materials, progressing 0.7%, and utilities, eking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks are in retreat Wednesday, but investors are being urged to keep in mind that they have been surging lately.
The Dow Jones Industrials staggered 89.24 points from Tuesday’s all-time high, to reach noon at 16.856.68
The S&P 500 shed 5.89 points to 1,944.90, and the NASDAQ composite index slumped 4.47 points to 4,333.53.
Facebook took a breather Wednesday from its recent run. The stock is up 14% in the past month and got a good boost this week after eBay announced that PayPal President David Marcus is leaving the e-commerce site to join Facebook. Shares of Facebook are up almost 20% this year
Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance soared over 14% after the beauty company reported a 19% bump in quarterly profit thanks to an impressive bounce in sales.
H&R Block advanced thanks to strong earnings from the tax preparation firm that were driven by an uptick in its online business.
Amazon popped after it received a rating upgrade by analysts at Goldman Sachs. The company is currently in a spat with Hachette books and Warner Brothers
Today's setback could be driven by the World Bank lowering its Global Economic Outlook for 2014. The bank now predicts a 4.8% pace for the year, down from its January estimate of 5.3%, marking the third straight year of under 5% growth for developing economies. In a week without much new data, investors are looking for ways to gauge the pulse of the economy.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were higher Wednesday, lowering yields to 2.62% from Tuesday’s 2.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices gained 28 cents to $104.63 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $2.10 at $1,262.20 U.S. an ounce.
