Equities in Toronto narrowed their earlier losses late Wednesday afternoon, helped by the continued rise in energy stocks and the sustained strength in telecoms.
The S&P/TSX composite index were negative 41.67 points to close Wednesday at 15,304.77
The Canadian dollar raced ahead 0.34 cents to 81.76 cents U.S.
Telecoms proved the biggest gainers as Rogers Communications bolted higher by 90 cents, or 2.1%, to $42.96.
The energy group saw gains, reacting positively to the increase in Brent crude oil prices . Imperial Oil dropped four cents to $54.56, while Suncor took on 13 cents $40.05. 2.4%, to $253.12.
Connacher Oil and Gas was the most actively traded stock, gaining half a cent, or 33.3%, to two cents, on 8.3 million shares.
The materials sector, on the other hand, fell with a firm U.S. dollar hurting gold and copper prices. Teck Resources dropped 11.5 cents, or 0.7%, to $15.72, while Sherritt International let go of three cents to $2.07
Gold stocks took the biggest pounding, as evidenced by the 5.9% loss sustained by Alamos Gold, which lost 52 cents to $8.23. Alacer Gold slid 16 cents, or 5.7%, to $2.65.
Health-care was also weak, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals doffed $6.26, or 2.4%, to $253.12,.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped back 2.62 points to 697.55
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative, weighed mostly by gold stocks, down 3.6%, materials, ditching 2.1%, and health-care stocks, discarding 1% of their strength
The four gainers were led by telecoms, up 1%, global base metals, improving 0.9%, and industrials, up 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, ending a day of choppy trade as investors weighed mixed earnings and signs of strength in the housing market.
The Dow Jones Industrials strengthened 88.68 points to 18,038.27, with Visa and McDonald's the greatest advancers and Boeing the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 index was positive 10.67 points to 2,107.96, with information technology leading all 10 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ index moved higher 21.07 points to 5,035.17, within sight of its all-time closing high of 5,048.62
Shares of Visa and MasterCard closed up about 4%, 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.
Coca-Cola closed up 1.3% 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 closed up 3.1% after spiking 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 closed down 1.4% after earlier falling more than 2% 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 was 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 1.98% from Tuesday’s 1.90%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shed 33 cents to $56.28 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $16.90 to $1,188.30 U.S.
