Equities in Toronto fell for a third straight session on Thursday as weaker commodity prices squeezed energy and mining shares but the drop was cushioned by a Chinese central bank assurance that there was no reason for the yuan to fall further.
The S&P/TSX composite index remained negative 52.35 points to greet noon at 14,287.18
The Canadian dollar sank 0.55 cents to 76.47 cents U.S.
Putting more pressure on the market was retailer Canadian Tire Corp, the only one of the index's 30 biggest decliners that was not a financial, mining or oil and gas stock. Canadian Tire tumbled 5% to $124.00 after it reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on slower sales growth.
Financial stocks, which make up roughly a third of the index, weighed heavily, hurt in part by Canada's low interest-rate environment and by banks' ties to the battered oil and gas industry
Toronto-Dominion Bank fell 0.7% to $52.23. The overall financials group, which also includes life insurance companies, retreated.
Energy stocks stumbled as crude prices took another beating. In the group, Canadian Natural Resources declined 2.8% to $31.06, while
Suncor Energy Inc fell 1% to $37.13.
The materials sector, home to miners, gave up ground, with gold miners leading the losses. Goldcorp sank 3.2% to $19.15.
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 1.48 points to 580.06.
The 14 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, with consumer staples shooting higher by 2%, information technology up 0.6%, and consumer discretionaries ahead 0.4%.
The seven laggards were weighed most by metals and mining, down 3.2%, gold off 2.7%, and energy, sputtering 2.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded slightly higher on Thursday after trading near the flatline as investors digested a slew of economic data points while oil fell sharply.
The Dow Jones industrial average reversed gears and moved higher 29.76 points by midday to 17,432.27, with Cisco Systems leading advancers and Intel and Caterpillar the greatest laggards.
The S&P 500 gained 3.15 points to 2,089.20, with energy leading six sectors lower and consumer discretionary leading four sectors higher.
The NASDAQ index regained 16.32 points to 5,060.71
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 sagged boosting yields to 2.17% 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.
