Canada's main stock index turned lower on Wednesday morning as energy stocks, telecoms and consumer equities weighed, while BlackBerry surged after its quarterly earnings beat expectations.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index recovered 8.97 points to greet noon at 16,142.32
The Canadian dollar gained 0.16 cents to 77.8 cents U.S.
BlackBerry jumped as much as 13.6% to its highest since May 2013 after beating analysts' earnings estimates with strong business software sales and licensing revenue. It was last up 10% at $15.37.
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 2.57 points to 802.39
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups had rebounded into positive territory midday, with energy gushing 1.2%, gold shining brighter 1%, and materials up 0.8%.
The four laggards were led by telecoms, down 0.7%, health-care, off 0.7%, and consumer staples, fading 0.4%.
Real-estate issues were unchanged by noon hour.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded little changed on Wednesday as investors awaited Congress to approve a bill that would cut corporate taxes.
The Dow Jones industrials gained 9.3 points to 24,764.05
The S&P 500 added 0.45 points to 2,682.88, with tech slipping 0.2%
The NASDAQ composite index fell 1.76 points to 6,962.09, 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% after the delivery giant's quarterly results surpassed estimates. Micron shares popped 3.8% 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 2.48% from Tuesday’s 2.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired 33 cents a barrel to $57.89 U.S.
Gold prices improved five dollars to $1,269.20 U.S. an ounce.
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