Canada's main stock index hit fresh six-week lows on Wednesday as a retreat in gold prices dragged mining companies lower, though a bounce in retailers helped keep the losses in check.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index stayed negative 58.61 points to greet noon on Wednesday at 15,157.57
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.01 cents at 77.64 cents U.S.
Gold miners were the biggest drag on materials sector with First Quantum, Barrick Gold, Teck Resources falling more than 2% each as gold eased from Tuesday's near six-week highs.
The energy sector was the also down as oil prices slipped from 2018 peaks after a report showed a surprisingly large increase in U.S. crude inventories.
Lululemon Athletica's U.S.-listed shares gained 10.3% to $86.79, after the athletic apparel maker reported a surprisingly strong fourth-quarter profit and forecast further growth in the first quarter.
BlackBerry rose about 3% to $2.75 after it beat profit estimates for the 14th straight quarter on higher margins from software and services sales.
Hudson's Bay fell 3.5% to $8.21 after the department store operator's quarterly profit missed expectations as a tough retail environment weighed sales and margins.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Badger Daylighting, which rose 12.3% to $25.98, while a large decliner was Torex Gold Resources, down 3.8% to $7.82.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings in Canada were $996 in January, little changed from the previous month.
Earnings were up 3.2% compared with January 2017, largely the result of gains in the second half of 2017
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 18.47 points, or 2.3%, to 784.36
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between losers and gainers, the latter half led by consumer staples, up 1.8%, telecoms, up 0.7%, and real-estate, ahead 0.5%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by health-care, dropping 2.5%, gold, skidding 2.4%, and energy, faltering 1.5%
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ composite fell for a second straight day on Wednesday, pressured by declines in Amazon and Apple.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average staged a small recovery, taking on 23.41 points to 23,881.12
The S&P 500 dropped 3.21 points to 2,609.41, with energy and tech among the worst-performing sectors.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ lost 51.42 points to 6,957.39, shares of Amazon pulling back 5.7%, and Apple losing 1%. Netflix lost 4.8%.
Amazon fell after Axios reported that President Donald Trump was "obsessed" with the company. The report also said Trump wants to "go after" Amazon.
Apple declined after analysts at Goldman Sachs are prediction lower iPhone sales in March and for the June quarter than the rest of the Street. They also cut their price target on the stock to $159 from $161.
Tech fell 3.5% on Tuesday, marking its biggest one-day decline since Feb. 8. The move lower in tech sent ripples through the entire stock market as the major averages fell more than 1%. The drop in the sector took place after media reports that Nvidia is temporarily suspending self-driving tests.
The selling was exacerbated by further pressure on Facebook shares. Reports emerged last week alleging that Cambridge Analytica, an analytics company, had gathered data from 50 million Facebook profiles without users' permission. CNN reported Tuesday that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify in front of Congress on the Cambridge Analytica leak.
In economic news, the U.S. economy grew by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the final read on the U.S. economy for the period.
Meantime, investors around the world have been keeping a close eye on global trade issues, debating what economic implications there could be if a trade war occurred between China and the U.S. This comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum that would inflict tariffs on Chinese imports — of up to $60 billion, prompting the Asian nation to retaliate.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained, lowering yields to 2.76% from Tuesday’s 2.78%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell $1.49 a barrel to $63.76 U.S.
Gold prices skidded $14.10 to $1,333.80 U.S. an ounce.
