Equities in Toronto slumped slightly at Wednesday’s, though BlackBerry jumped after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dipped 8.97 points to begin Wednesday’s session at 16,124.38
The Canadian dollar gained 0.14 cents to 77.78 cents U.S.
BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion, rocketed $1.42, or 10.2%, to $15.39
Canada may ask the World Trade Organization to intervene in the dispute over a proposed 300% duty on U.S. sales of Bombardier's CSeries jets, but any resolution of the trade spat could still take years.
Bombardier shares dropped a penny to $3.05.
BMO cut the rating on Inter Pipeline Ltd. to market perform from outperform. Inter Pipeline shares retreated four cents to $25.66.
LB Securities started coverage on New Gold Inc. with a buy rating, and a $4.75 price target. New Gold shares picked up a penny to $3.98.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said wholesale trade was up 1.5% to $63.0 billion in October, more than offsetting the 1.1% decline in September. The agency said gains were reported in six of seven sub-sectors, together representing 81% of total wholesale sales.
Moreover, average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $983 in October, virtually unchanged from the previous month.
Following little year-over-year growth throughout most of 2016, earnings have increased at a faster pace in 2017. Compared with October 2016, earnings rose 3.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.71 points to 803.25
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative to begin Wednesday, as health-care and consumer staples each backpedaled 0.6%, while telecoms slipped 0.3%.
The five gainers were led by information technology, up 1%, gold, off 0.2%, and financials, down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 rose on Wednesday as the passing of tax code revamp in Congress became more likely.
The Dow gained 41.76 points to 24,796.51
The S&P 500 added 1.41 points to 2,682.88, with financials and telecommunications on the move upward.
The NASDAQ composite index fell 13.17 points to 6,950.68, as large-cap tech stocks like Apple, Facebook and Alphabet traded lower.
Actuant, General Mills, Herman Miller and Winnebago are among the firms reporting earnings Wednesday.
In corporate news, shares of FedEx rose 2.5% after the delivery giant's quarterly results surpassed estimates. Micron shares popped 3.7% as its earnings and revenue also beat expectations.
In economic news, weekly mortgage applications fell 4.9%, while existing home sales hit an 11-year high.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note moved higher, lowering yields to 2.49% from Tuesday’s 2.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired six cents a barrel to $57.62 U.S.
Gold prices improved $3.70 to $1,267.90 U.S. an ounce.
