Equities in Canada’s biggest centre were lower on Thursday, as a resource retreat and U.S. subpoena for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc offset gains across much of the rest of the index led by financials and industrial shares.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved lower 97.15 points to greet noon at 13,778.18
The Canadian dollar added 0.18 cents at 77.49 cents U.S.
Valeant fell 9.1% to $208.29 after it said it was subpoenaed by U.S. prosecutors on its pricing, drug distribution and patient assistance programs.
The most influential decliners also included Goldcorp, which fell 1.3% to $19.81, and Barrick Gold, which declined 2.2% to $10.33.
The energy group slipped, with Suncor Energy down 0.5% at $36.84 and Canadian Natural Resources off 0.4% at $30.90.
The most influential gainers included Canadian National Railway, which added 0.8% to $78.00, and Royal Bank of Canada, which advanced 0.6% to $73.96.
Economically speaking, the Canadian Real Estate Association said national home sales activity declined by 2.1% from August to September. Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity edged up 0.7% compared to September 2014.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 2.3 points to 554.46
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups had lost momentum by lunch hour, as energy skidded 2.2%, health-care shares failed 1.9%, and gold sauntered 1.1%
The five gainers were led by telecoms, up 0.6%, while utilities and consumer staples each took on 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher Thursday as investors digested key bank earnings and mostly soft economic data that supported the case for a rate hike delay.
The Dow Jones industrial average remained 58.46 points – off its highs of the morning -- to 16,983.21, with Nike and Boeing contributing the most to gains. UnitedHealth was the greatest weight on the index.
The S&P 500 hiked 6.39 points to 2,000.83. Materials and energy were the greatest drags on the S&P 500.
The NASDAQ index picked up 20.28 points to 4,803.13
Schlumberger, Mattel, Western Alliance, People's United Financial and WD-40 are all due after the bell.
Goldman Sachs reported earnings that missed on the top and bottom line as a decline in bond trading hurt profits.
Citigroup earnings beat but revenue missed expectations and declined from the same period last year.
Earnings season has started off with some weak corporate commentaries, despite the fact that most companies so far are beating on the bottom line.
Wal-Mart's disappointing forecast Wednesday of a potential double-digit earnings decline in the coming fiscal year kicked a market already reacting to weaker-than-expected September retail sales, soft producer prices and flat business inventories.
The stock traded more than 1% lower Thursday after a historic plunge of 10% Wednesday.
In economic news, September CPI declined 0.2%, matching expectations. Ex-food and energy, the price index rose 0.2% for the month, following a 0.1% rise in August.
Weekly jobless claims came in at 255,000. The October Empire State Index posted a read of negative 11.36. The index showed negative 14.67 in September.
The Philly Fed index posted negative 4.5 for October.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were lower, raising yields to 2.01% from Wednesday’s 2%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $1.24 a barrel to $45.40 U.S.
Gold prices recovered $3.97 to $1,188.10 U.S. an ounce.
