Stocks in Canada’s biggest centre fell broadly on Wednesday with financial shares leading the retreat as concern over the Greek debt crisis sparked general investor caution amid mixed corporate earnings reports.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 65.45 points to greet noon at 15,280.99
The Canadian dollar remained positive 0.23 cents to 81.66 cents U.S.
Among financials, Toronto-Dominion Bank dropped 1% to $55.42, and Royal Bank of Canada declined 0.9% to $79.59.
In the material sector, Goldcorp dropped 2.6% to $23.21, while Barrick Gold was down 2% at $15.44.
Energy stocks also retreated, with Suncor Energy off 0.9% at $39.57.
On the upside, telecoms rose, with Rogers Communications gaining 3% to $43.30.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped back 2.39 points to 697.78
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative by noon hour, as gold slid 3.1%, materials fell 2%, and information technology descended 0.9%
The four gainers were led by telecoms, up 1%, global base metals, up 0.9%, and industrials, up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range on Wednesday as investors weighed mixed reports from major corporations.
The Dow Jones Industrials reversed course and gained 43.37 points to 17,992.96, with Visa and McDonald's leading gains and Boeing the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 index reacquired 5.12 points to 2,102.41, with information technology leading four sectors higher and consumer staples the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index moved higher 6.62 points to 5,020.72
Shares of Visa and MasterCard jumped by as much as 7% and 5%, respectively, in high-volume trade following China's announcement that the country will open its market for clearing domestic bank card transactions.
The move should allow foreign players such as the two card companies direct access to a market valued at $6.84 trillion U.S. last year.
Stocks opened higher and futures turned higher in the half hour before the open following results from blue-chips Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Boeing.
Coca-Cola jumped more than 1% after reporting an adjusted 48 cents U.S. per share for the first quarter, six cents above estimates, with revenue also above forecasts. Global case volume did fall short of estimates, although the company delivered a better-than-expected quarter in the European market.
McDonald's spiked more than 4.5% in early trade as investors cheered a turnaround plan expected on May 4. However, the fast food chain's earnings missed on both the top and bottom lines
Boeing dipped more than 1.5% after reporting earnings of $1.97 U.S. per share for the first quarter, above estimates of $1.81 U.S.
Revenue was slightly shy of forecasts, but the company reaffirmed its full year guidance for both earnings and revenue. Boeing also delivered 184 commercial jets compared to 161 in the year ago quarter, and also met its goal of delivering 30 787 jets during the quarter.
Housing data is also in focus, with the FHFA house price index for February showing a 0.7% increase from the previous month. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a 0.3% gain.
Existing home sales data for March beat expectations at 5.19 million. The report was expected to show a second consecutive monthly increase, to just over five million, broadly matching the average monthly reading since last summer.
Total mortgage application volume rose 2.3% week to week on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending April 17, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dropped sharply, raising yields to 1.96% from Tuesday’s 1.90%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shed 20 cents to $56.41 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $14.80 to $1,188.30 U.S.
