Equities in Canada’s biggest market fell in a broad retreat early on Thursday, weighed down by mining and energy shares as prices for gold and oil slipped.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 67.42 points to open Thursday at 15,206.26
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.19 cents to 73.42 cents U.S.
Home Capital Group Inc named a new director and said one of its initial investors would step down from the board.
Home shares subsided four cents to $8.65.
U.S. government officials are set to begin investigating Boeing's unfair trade claims against Bombardier, a two-track action that could lead to U.S. duties on Bombardier's new jetliner and also pits Boeing against Delta Air Lines Inc.
Shares in Bombardier slid 3.5 cents, or 1.7%, to $2.04.
TD Securities cut the target price on Aimia Inc. to $3.75 from $9.50. Aimia shares found their way upward five cents, or 1.6%, to $3.11.
Citigroup raised the rating on Bank of Montreal to buy from neutral. BMO shares inched up three cents to $92.11.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported those Canadians drawing regular employment insurance benefits numbered 551,100 in March, down 2,900, or 0.5%, from February.
Moreover, the agency told us, foreign investment in Canadian securities amounted to $15.1 billion in March, largely in Canadian corporate instruments. At the same time, Canadian investors boosted their foreign holdings to $15.4 billion, led by acquisitions of U.S. equities.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 0.4 points to 807.87
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, as gold toppled 2.4%, materials moved backward 2.1%, and energy fell 1.1%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, up 0.6%, information technology, up 0.4%, and consumer staples, up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities south of the border traded marginally higher on Thursday as investors assessed the future of Donald Trump's presidency and his chances of moving forward with his pro-growth agenda.
The Dow Jones Industrials Average poked ahead 18.36 points to 20,625.29, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains. Cisco Systems capped gains on the 30-stock index, after issuing weak guidance.
The S&P 500 regained 5.61 points to 2,362.51
The NASDAQ moved higher 36.14 points to 6,047.38.
U.S. equities suffered their worst day of the year Wednesday, with the Dow dropping 372 points, on the back of news that former FBI Director James Comey put together a memo outlining a conversation in which Trump allegedly asked him to halt an investigation into former National Security adviser Michael Flynn.
In economic news, weekly jobless claims totaled 232,000, below the expected 240,000. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve business index rose to 38.8 in May from 22.0 in April.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were unchanged, keeping yields at Wednesday’s 2.22%.
Oil prices eased back 27 cents at $48.80 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gave back $2.10 at $1,256.60 U.S. an ounce.
