Equities in Toronto fell on Wednesday as signs of increasing U.S. crude inventories put pressure on the price of oil and shares of energy companies.
The S&P/TSX composite index shed 14.15 points – off its lows of the morning -- to greet noon at 15,048.73. The benchmark is up about 2.5% so far this year.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.08 cents to 79.73 cents U.S.
Shares of energy producers gave back ground, as Suncor Energy shed 3.2% to $38.23, and Canadian Natural Resources lost 3.6% to $38.15.
The gold-mining sector climbed, helped by a rise in the bullion price. Barrick Gold advanced 2.9% to $16.14, and Goldcorp was up 1.9% at $30.17.
The weakness in oil prices followed four days of gains, when the commodity rebounded off multiyear lows on hopes that production might come down. Investors remain concerned about the supply-demand imbalance in oil.
Western University’s Ivey PMI was released this morning and stood at 45.4 in January, compared to 55.4 in December, and 56.8 for January 2014. The index asks purchasing managers whether their orders improved, stayed the same or dropped during the month.
A figure above 50 shows an increase while below 50 shows a decrease.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.50 points to 690.82
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, as gold soared 1.9%, information technology clicked 1.1% higher, and materials were 1% to the good.
The four laggards were weighed by energy, down 3.2%, metals and mining off 2%, and global base metals eased 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly in the green after opening lower on Wednesday as oil prices showed signs of stabilizing and large-cap companies rallied.
The Dow Jones Industrials was ahead 61.24 points to 17,727.64, with Walt Disney and Visa leading gains and Merck the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.58 points to 2,049.50, with consumer staples leading half of the 10 sectors, and energy the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index recovered 2.11 points to 4,729.85.
Apple shares rose more than 1% to hit a record intraday high of more than $120 U.S. a share on a split-adjusted basis.
In encouraging news for the stock after Apple's strong earnings report last week, ABI Research reported on Wednesday that Android smartphone shipments fell for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2014 while Apple's iOS gained 90%.
Disney jumped as much as 8% to a new high following a blowout earnings report after the bell Tuesday. The combined gains of Disney and Visa, which rose about 2%, added more than 80 points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and pushed the index into positive territory in mid-morning trade.
Economically speaking, the ADP Employment report, which is seen as a precursor to Friday's important jobs report, showed January payrolls increased by 213,000, below estimates of 225,000.
Financial data firm Markit said the final reading of its Purchasing Managers Index for the service sector rose to 54.2 in January, up from both the preliminary read of 54.0, as well as the December read of 53.3, which had matched a 10-month low.
The ISM Non-manufacturing Index posted 56.7 for January, a slight increase from December.
China's central bank increased its economic stimulus measures even further Wednesday by cutting the reserve requirement ratio amid growing concerns about the rate of expansion in the world's second-largest economy.
The 50 basis points reduction to 19.5%, effective Thursday, is the first such cut since May 2012. This will lower the amount of deposits that each lender is required to hold as reserves.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries skidded, raising yields to 1.83% from Tuesday’s 1.78%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dumped $2.45 per barrel to $50.60 U.S.
Gold prices moved higher $2.20 an ounce to $1,262.70 U.S.
