Canada's main stock index ended barely lower on Wednesday, paring steeper losses after the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting offered a balanced view on when it may hike U.S. interest rates, while losses among gold miners and oil and gas producers weighed.
The S&P/TSX Composite spent much of the day deep in negative territory, but, by the end, fought to within 5.84 points of breakeven to close at 14,697.60
The Canadian dollar inked 0.05 cents higher to 77.8 cents U.S.
Health-Care stocks showed the most bounce on the day, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals gained $4.32, or 12.6%, to $38.51, while rival Concordia International inched up six cents to $12.00.
Industrials also showed some muscle as Bombardier gained two cents, or 1%, to $1.98.
Gold cast the biggest shadow on the market Wednesday as Yamana Gold backed off 16 cents, or 2.3%, to $6.91, while Barrick Gold sank 61 cents, or 2.2%, to $26.78.
Energy stocks suffered as Baytex Energy dropped off four cents to $6.89, while EnCana Corporation eased seven cents to $12.24.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 10.07 points to 828.48
Eight of the 13 subgroups fought their way back up again by the end of the day, as health-care catapulted 4.2%, industrials were 0.7% stronger, and utilities clicked 0.4% higher
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, dulling in price 1.3%, while energy and information technology each slid 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities stateside closed mostly higher on Wednesday as investors digested the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve's July meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials regained 21.92 points to 18,573.94, with Pfizer leading advancers and Cisco Systems the biggest laggard.
The S&P 500 gained 4.07 points to 2,182.22, with utilities advancing more than 1%.
The NASDAQ Composite notched upwards 1.55 points to 5,228.66
Wall Street also digested a number of quarterly reports before the bell, including Lowe's and Target.
Some voting Fed policymakers expect that a U.S. interest rate increase will be needed soon, although there is general agreement that more data is needed before such a move, according to the minutes from the Fed's July policy meeting.
Market expectations for a September rate hike fell to 12% from 18% Wednesday
On the oil front, U.S. crude rose 0.5% to settle at $46.79 U.S. a barrel, after Energy Information Administration data showed oil inventories decreased by 2.5 million barrels last week.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 1.55% from Tuesday’s 1.58%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recaptured 31 cents a barrel to $46.89 U.S.
Gold prices slumped $3.90 to $1,353.00 U.S. an ounce.
