Canada's main stock index opened lower for the third straight session, as natural resource stocks were battered again by commodity prices, but overall losses were less steep after China's central bank said there was no reason for the yuan to fall further.
The S&P/TSX composite index sank 53.66 points to open Thursday at 14,285.87
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.46 cents to 76.57 cents U.S.
Canadian National Railway said on Wednesday that President and Chief Executive Claude Mongeau will be taking some time away from work to treat a rare type of tumour. The company said Mongeau will undergo surgery to remove the pre-cancerous throat tumour toward the end of August or early in September, and that he will require about three months of medical treatment and recovery.
CN shares fell a penny to $80.16.
Germany's K+S AG affirmed its rejection of a 7.9-billion-euro takeover proposal by Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, buoyed by stronger than expected quarterly earnings. Second-quarter operating profit at the salt and fertilizer company jumped 14% to 179.2 million euros, beating a 168 million-euro consensus forecast in a Reuters poll.
Potash shares dipped 13 cents to $33.77.
CIBC raised the target price on Air Canada by $0.75 to $18.25 following the company’s second-quarter results and third-quarter guidance. Shares in the Maple Leaf Airline gained 14 cents, or 1.2%, to $12.22.
National Bank Financial cut the price target on Canadian Energy Services & Technology to $8.25 from $9.00; rating outperform as the company’s second-quarter EBITDA came below expectations.
Energy Services shares dipped 10 cents, or 1.5%, to $6.49.
National Bank Financial raised the target price on Cara Operations to $42.00 from C$41.00, rating outperform after the company delivered strong second-quarter results. Cara shares eased 26 cents to $34.90.
On things economic, Statistics Canada reported its New Housing Price Index for June rose 0.3%, mostly due to gains in Ontario. This was the third consecutive monthly price increase for the Canada-level index.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture inched up 2.18 points to 580.76.
All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower to start out, as gold slipped 2.4%, metals and mining slid 1.5%, and materials were 1.4% to the bad.
The two gainers were consumer staples, surging 1.4%, and health-care, better by 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded lower on Thursday as investors digested a slew of economic data points while oil fell sharply.
The Dow Jones industrial average ducked lower 38.55 points to begin the day at 17,363.96, with Caterpillar and Chevron as the greatest laggards and Cisco Systems leading advancers.
The S&P 500 slumped 5.95 points to 2,080.10, with energy leading nine sectors lower and consumer discretionary as the only advancer.
The NASDAQ index dropped 8.1 points, to 5,044.39, with biotechnology stocks trading 0.2% lower.
In corporate news, retailer Kohl's reported quarterly results that missed Wall Street's expectations, citing a delay in tax-free sales by a number of states.
Elon Musk's Tesla Motors filed to offer 2.1 million common shares in an attempt to raise at least $500 million U.S.in new capital. The company's stock traded higher before the bell.
Merck, Monster Beverage, GoPro and Yahoo shares were all upgraded by BMO Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley, Cowen & Co. and Bernstein, respectively.
U.S. retail sales for July rose 0.6%, slightly above estimates, the Commerce Department said, boosted by auto sales. June's retail sales were also revised up to show them unchanged instead of the previously reported 0.3% drop
Weekly jobless claims came in at 274,000, slightly above a consensus estimate of 270,000, while import prices fell 0.9% amid lower oil costs and a strong dollar.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries settled, boosting yields to 2.16% from Wednesday’s 2.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved down 71 cents a barrel to $42.59 U.S.
Gold prices were lower by nine dollars to $1,114.60 U.S. an ounce.
