Stocks in Canada’s biggest centre took a small dive early Wednesday, weighed down by gold miners and other materials stocks as a stronger U.S. dollar pushed commodity prices broadly lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index opened Wednesday down 33.43 points to 13,883.67
The Canadian dollar fell 0.29 cents to 77.17 cents U.S.
CIBC raised the target price on Alacer Gold to $3.25 from $2.75. Alacer shares gained five cents to $3.19.
CIBC raised the target price on Bank of Montreal to $84.00 from $79.00.
BMO shares tacked on nine cents to $82.15.
CIBC raised the price target on Bank of Nova Scotia to $65.00 from $61.00
Scotiabank shares acquired 12 cents to $62.92.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investment in Canadian securities strengthened for a third straight month to reach $17.2 billion in March, mostly securities issued by Canadian private corporations.
Meanwhile, Canadian investment in foreign securities amounted to $2.3 billion and was led by U.S. corporate instruments.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased 2.11 points to 684.06
All but one of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, as metals and mining fell 2.8%, materials, down 1.1%, and gold, off 0.9%.
The lone gainer was in financials, up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mixed Wednesday, with financials and tech leading, as investors awaited the afternoon release of the U.S. Federal Reserve minutes.
The Dow Jones Industrials started negative 34.28 points to 17,495.70. Ahead of earnings due Thursday morning, Wal-Mart traded more than 3% lower for the greatest negative impact on the Dow. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase contributed the most to gains in the index.
The S&P 500 docked 4.09 points to 2,043.12. Financials led S&P 500 advancers
The NASDAQ Composite gained 14.18 points, or 1.3%, to 4,715.73, helped by a 1% gain in shares of Apple.
In corporate news, Target reported a lower-than-expected 1.2% increase in comparable sales, while net revenue declined to $16.2 billion U.S., mainly due to the sale of pharmacy and clinic business to CVS Health.
Target fell more than 9.5% in morning trade.
Ahead of earnings due Thursday morning, Wal-Mart traded more than 3% lower for the greatest negative impact on the Dow. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase contributed the most to gains in the index.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped sharply, raising yields to 1.82% from Tuesday’s 1.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell four cents a barrel to $48.27 U.S.
Gold prices doffed $6.02 to $1,272.93 U.S. an ounce.
