(CORRECTS DIRECTION OF TSX)
Canada's main stock index slipped on Thursday on optimism of a revised North American Free Trade Agreement as top U.S. and Canadian trade negotiators were set for a second day of talks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index listed lower by 17.12 points to greet noon at 16,120.45
The Canadian dollar faded 0.23 cents to 75.67 cents.
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday the two countries made progress in negotiations and officials would work together to flesh out areas for further discussion.
The biggest drag to the main index was the health care sector, weighed down by a decline in cannabis companies.
Aurora Cannabis fell 48 cents, or 5.5%, the most on the TSX, to $8.20, while Canopy Growth, down $3.34, or 4.9%, to $65.13, was the second biggest decliner.
Continental Gold declined eight cents, or 2.5%, to $3.10 after the miner said one engineer from its Buritica mine in Colombia was killed and another wounded in an attack early on Wednesday.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Maxar Technologies, which jumped $1.80, or 4.4%, to $42.59, after the U.S. government renewed a contract valued at $44 million.
Alimentation Couche-Tard rose $3.08, or 4.9%, to $66.23 and was among the biggest gainers, world's second-biggest convenience store operator reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reports municipalities issued $8.2 billion worth of building permits in July, down 0.1% from June. The decrease was mainly attributable to lower construction intentions in British Columbia.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.5 points to 711.65
Eight of the 12 subgroups were positive midday, as consumer staples muscled up 1.2%, while gold bettered itself by 1%, and industrials rumbled ahead 0.7%
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 2.3%, while energy dragged 1.4%, and information technology lost 1.3%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Thursday as tech shares added to steep losses seen in the previous session while global trade fears lingered.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average skidded 9.88 points to 25,965.11, as Apple lagged.
The S&P 500 dropped 12.76 points to 2,875.73, as tech fell more than 1% to lead the pullback.
The NASDAQ slipped 70.76 points to 7,924.41, as Amazon loosed 1.8% and Apple fell 2.2%.
Facebook shares also declined 2.6% on Thursday, while Alphabet dropped 2.5%
Chipmakers were among the worst-performing tech stocks. Micron Technology dropped 10.2%, while Lam Research fell 5.9% and Applied Materials shed 4%. These stocks fell after a Morgan Stanley analyst and an executive at KLA-Tencor issued demand warnings for the semiconductor space.
Tech shares have been on fire this year, rising more than 16% in that time.
Private companies added 163,000 jobs last month, according to ADP and Moody's Analytics. Economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 190,000. The report comes ahead of the US. government's non-farm payrolls report, which is set for release Friday.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were slightly higher, dropping yields to 2.88% from Wednesday’s 2.9%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices removed $1.17 to $67.55 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $3.20 to $1,204.50
