Equities in Canada’s biggest centre moved lower, as slips in banking and consumer discretionary shares offset gains for energy company stocks as oil prices gained.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 36.36 points to open Thursday at 14,760.39
The Canadian dollar slid 0.19 cents at 77.42 cents U.S.
Desjardins cut the target price on New Gold Inc. to $7.00 from $7.25. New Gold shares descended 27 cents, or 4%, to $6.46.
Goldman Sachs raised the rating on Enbridge Inc. to buy from neutral on growth visibility. Enbridge shares gained $1.83, or 3.2%, to $58.27.
CIBC cut the rating on Hudson's Bay Co. to sector perform from outperform. Bay shares dipped 33 cents, or 1.9%, to $17.33.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that municipalities issued building permits worth $6.5 billion in July, up 0.8% from the previous month, while the new housing price index rose 0.4% in July compared with the previous month, driven mainly by new housing prices in the combined region of Toronto and Oshawa
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 2.44 points to 824.33
All but two of 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the session’s first hour, with information technology down 1.3%, consumer discretionary stocks suffering 0.7%, and materials off 0.5%.
The two gainers were energy, up 0.7%, and utilities, eking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower Thursday as investors digested the European Central Bank's latest monetary policy decision and remarks made by its president, Mario Draghi.
The Dow Jones Industrials let go of 64.34 points to 18,461.80, with Apple contributing the most losses.
The S&P 500 withered 6.75 points to 2,179.41, with information technology lagging.
The NASDAQ Composite slid 27.29 points to 5,256.25, as Apple slid more than 2%.
Apple's stock fell a day after unveiling its latest iPhone model. On Thursday, the firm said it will not release pre-order numbers for the phone, saying those figures are "no longer a representative metric for our investors and consumers."
Investors also analyzed economic data from the U.S., with weekly jobless claims coming in 4,000 lower at 259,000. Other data due Thursday include the Energy Information Administration's release of weekly crude inventories, scheduled for release at 11 a.m. ET.
The ECB kept interest rates unchanged and did not announce an extension of its quantitative easing program. Draghi said in a news conference the central bank did not discuss an extension of said program, but added the program will run until the end of next March or beyond, if necessary.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were down, boosting yields to 1.57% from Wednesday’s 1.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 70 cents at $46.20 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices ditched 80 cents at $1,348.40 U.S. an ounce.
