Equities in Canada’s largest centre clung to gains in early trade on Wednesday, as lower industrial metal prices weighed on miners and several major banks also helped pull the index down as bond yields fell.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 16.92 points to open Wednesday at 15,636.57
The Canadian dollar docked 0.06 cents at 72.90 cents U.S.
Loblaw Companies reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as the company kept a tight lid on expenses and attracted more customers to its stores with discounts.
Loblaw shares added 53 cents to $77.52.
Beleaguered lender Home Capital Group has delayed its first-quarter earnings to after close of market on May 11. Home Capital shares docked 25 cents, or 3.2%, to $7.50.
CIBC raised the rating on Kinross Gold to outperform from neutral, with a price target of $4.75. Kinross shares galloped 50 cents, or 10.9%, to $5.09.
Morgan Stanley started coverage on Source Energy Services with overweight rating. Source shares were unchanged at $9.55.
CIBC cut the price target on Westjet Airlines to $24.00 from $25.00. Westjet shares descended eight cents to $22.02.
The Toronto Real Estate Board said Toronto home prices and new listings surged in April from a year earlier while sales fell, suggesting the market may be starting to re-balance after new housing rules were put it place amid fears of a bubble in Canada's largest city.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.23 points to 794.97
The 12 TSX subgroups were split evenly between gainers and losers, as gold, energy and consumer discretionary stocks each sprang up 0.5%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by real-estate, down 0.4%, industrials, sliding 0.3%, and materials, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street opened lower on Wednesday, weighed down by Apple after the world's most valuable company by market value reported a surprise fall in iPhone sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 42.51 points to open Wednesday at 20.907.38
The S&P 500 jettisoned 6.92 points to 2,384.25
The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite docked 33.38 points from Tuesday’s all-time high to 6,061.98
Shares of Apple dropped nearly 2% to $144.75 after the company also forecast current-quarter revenue below estimates.
Automatic Data Processing fell 7% after its revenue missed expectations. Gilead dropped 2.3% after the drug maker reported a lower-than-expected profit.
Anadarko Petroleum fell 9.1%. The stocks were among the biggest drags on the NASDAQ and S&P.
Yum Brands rose 2.3% to $67.81 after the company's quarterly profit came in better than expected.
Delphi Automotive rose 8.2% to $84.89 after it gave a strong full-year earnings outlook.
Data last week showed the U.S. economy grew at its slowest pace in three years in the first quarter. Since then, automakers have reported a drop in vehicle dales for March, which along with the drop in iPhone sales, have added to nerves.
The Federal Reserve could address gross domestic product when it issues a statement at 2 p.m. ET, at the end of its two-day meeting on interest rates. While the central bank is expected to hold interest rates steady, it may hint it is on track for an increase in June.
An ADP report showed U.S. private employers added 177,000 jobs in April, slightly above economists' expectations.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell, raising yields to 2.3% from Tuesday’s 2.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 17 cents at $47.83 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slumped $6.40 at $1,250.60 U.S. an ounce.
