Wednesday proved another lacklustre day on Toronto markets, as energy weighed equities just below breakeven by the finish. The investment world remains on tenterhooks, it seems, over whether Britain will vote to remain in the European Union.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 8.51 points to conclude business Wednesday at 14,003.81
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.14 cents to 77.98 cents U.S.
Energy stocks took the brunt of selling, as Birchcliff Energy dived 38 cents, or 5.6%, to $6.42, while Baytex Energy swooned 21 cents, or 2.8%, to $7.43.
Information technology stocks also got batted around, as BlackBerry slid 40 cents, or 4.4%, to $8.63.
Gold provided one of the few bright spots, as Yamana Gold advanced 32 cents, or 5.3%, to $6.34. Kinross Gold improved 23 cents, or 3.8%, to $6.34.
Industrials moved higher, too, as Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers added 32 cents to $43.92, and Canadian National Railways ballooned $1.06, or 1.4%, to $75.86.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that retail sales in Canada rose 0.9% to $44.3 billion in April, after a decline of 0.8% in March. Sales were up in seven of 11 sub-sectors, representing 64% of total retail sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.29 points to 708.52
Eight of the 13 subgroups were lower on the day, as energy trailed 1.4%, information technology dipped 0.4%, and utilities sank 0.3%.
The five laggards were led by gold, up 2%, materials, gaining 1.2%, and industrials, up 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed lower Wednesday, weighed by declines in energy stocks, as investors remained on edge ahead of the U.K. vote on whether to leave the European Union.
The Dow Jones Industrials relinquished gains and slumped instead 48.9 points to 17,780.83.
Shares of McDonald's traded more than 1.5% lower as the greatest contributor to declines in the Dow. Nomura downgraded the Golden Arches stock to neutral from buy on expectations of weaker sales.
The S&P 500 subtracted 3.45 points at 2,085.45. Health-care briefly rose more than 1% to lead most S&P 500 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ turned negative 10.44 points to 4,833.32.
The tech-heavy index struggled to hold opening gains as declines in shares of Amazon.com and Tesla weighed. Late Tuesday, Elon Musk's electric car manufacturer proposed to buy SolarCity for about $2.8 billion U.S. Musk is the controlling shareholder of the solar company and the CEO of Tesla.
In economic news Wednesday, existing home sales rose 1.8% in May to an annual rate of 5.53 million units, the highest level since February 2007.
The FHFA House Price Index rose 0.2% on a seasonally-adjusted basis in April from the previous month, while March's figure was upwardly revised to a 0.8% increase.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to continue her two-day congressional testimony with remarks to the House Financial Services Committee.
The EU referendum is scheduled for Thursday and the results are not expected until after the U.S. market close that day.
Reuters reported a poll released Wednesday from TNS indicated support for "leave" holding over "remain.”
Prices for the 10-year Treasury moved slightly higher, lowering yields to 1.69% from Tuesday’s 1.7%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 73 cents a barrel to $49.12 U.S.
Gold prices dropped $3.40 to $1,270.80 U.S. an ounce.
