Toronto stocks came out rather timidly in Wednesday’s first hour, amid new developments on the energy front.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 14.81 points to open Wednesday at 14,987.78
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.38 cents to 88.15 cents U.S.
A bill to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline failed in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, sparing President Barack Obama from an expected veto of legislation that several fellow Democrats supported.
TransCanada Corp., a company standing to benefit by Keystone, saw its shares gain $1.38, or 2.5%, to $57.38.
Suncor Energy said on Tuesday that it planned to spend $7.2-7.8 billion in 2015, with more than half of those funds earmarked for growth projects. Suncor shares backtracked 51 cents to $38.66
Barrick Gold named mining industry veteran Shaun Usmar its chief financial officer designate on Tuesday, marking the latest shakeup at the world's biggest gold miner. Barrick shares lost eight cents in the early going to $14.96.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange removed 0.02 points to 784.37.
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were up to begin Wednesday, with consumer staples ahead 0.7%, utilities up 0.5%, and consumer discretionary stocks better by 0.3%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by global base metals, down 1.3%, information technology, down 1%, and gold, down 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks tallied modest losses on Wednesday, as investors waited for minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting and after data indicated the housing market is regaining traction.
The Dow Jones Industrials doffed 41.74 points to begin the session at 17,646.08
The S&P 500 slipped 7.40 points at 2,044.40. The NASDAQ index dipped 32.85 points to 4,669.59.
Target rose in early New York trading after the retailer posted quarterly earnings that beat estimates.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported housing starts unexpectedly fell in October, down 2.8%, while permits surged to their highest in more than six years.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were lower, raising yields to 2.35% from Tuesday’s 2.32%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost 11 cents to $74.50 U.S.
Gold prices dipped 90 cents to $1,196.20 U.S.
