Stocks in Canada’s biggest market slipped in early trade on Friday, weighed down by gold miners and other materials stocks as a rise in the U.S. dollar pressured commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 56.8 points to open Friday at 14,638.88
The Canadian dollar erased 0.71 cents to 77.6 cents U.S.
Desjardins started coverage on Crew Energy with a buy rating, and a $7.25 target price. Crew shares inched up four cents to $6.37.
RBC raised the target price on Dollarama to $120.00 from $111.00, with an outperform rating.
Dollarama shares climbed 93 cents, or almost 1%, to $96.86.
RBC raised the target price Timmins Gold to $1.00 from $0.70. Timmins Gold shares gained a penny or 1.5% to 67 cents.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index rose 1.3% in the 12 months to July, after increasing 1.5% in June. The agency adds, excluding gasoline, the CPI was up 1.9% year over year in July, matching the gain in June.
The agency also said retail sales edged down 0.1% to $44.1 billion in June. Sales declined in seven of 11 sub-sectors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped 2.44 points to 835.14
All but three of the 13 subgroups were lower in the day’s first hour, with gold settling 1.6%, materials down 1.5%, and real-estate off 0.4%.
The two gainers were consumer discretionaries and industrials, crawling up 0.1% each. Health-care stocks were unchanged to begin the session.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower on Friday as investors digested hawkish rhetoric from Federal Reserve officials and kept an eye on oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved lower 96.97 points to 18,597.70, with McDonald's and IBM contributing the most to losses.
The S&P 500 fell 10.17 points to 2,176.85, with telecommunications leading all sectors lower.
The NASDAQ Composite subsided 16.59 points to 5,223.55, and was on pace to snap a seven-week winning streak.
U.S. equities were on track to post slight weekly losses amid continuing their narrow trading range.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, lifting yields to 1.57% from Thursday’s 1.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices backtracked 14 cents a barrel to $48.08 U.S.
Gold prices slid $8.80 to $1,348.40 U.S. an ounce.
