Equities in Canada’s largest centre opened lower on Wednesday, led by declines in the health-care and energy sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index reversed 71.39 points to open Wednesday at 15,508.35
The Canadian dollar handed back 0.26 cents to 77.05 cents U.S.
Canada became the first industrialized nation to legalize recreational cannabis on Wednesday but a legal buzz will be hard to come by in its biggest cities as some, including Toronto and Vancouver, will have no stores open.
Canopy Growth dwindled in price $5.15, or 7.5%, to $63.55, while rival Aurora Cannabis sank $1.91, or 13.7%, to $12.07.
CIBC raised the price target on Cargojet to $90.00 from $70.00. Cargojet shares acquired 39 cents to $84.09.
Berenberg cut the price target on Endeavour Mining to $22.55 from $28.33. Endeavour shares deleted two cents to $21.25.
CIBC cut the price target on WestJet Airlines to $16.00 from $17.00. WestJet retreated 35 cents, or 1.9%, to $18.36.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales in this country fell 0.4% to $58.6 billion in August, following three consecutive monthly increases. The decline was mainly due to lower motor vehicle sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 12.6 points, or 1.8%, to 687.21
All but three of the 12 subgroups sank into the red, with health-care plummeting 7.4%, information technology shying away 1.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks falling 0.8%.
The three gainers were led by communications, up 0.3%, while real-estate and utilities each inched up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Wednesday as volatile trading continued through the start of the earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrials crumbled 181.73 points to open the midweek session at 25,616.59, as IBM led the decline.
The S&P 500 jettisoned 11.11 points to 2,798.81, with materials and consumer discretionary lagging.
The NASDAQ let go of 29.96 points to 7,615.53, despite strong gains from Netflix.
Netflix shares were up 5.8% after the streaming giant posted third-quarter earnings that easily beat expectations. The big beat was driven by stronger-than-expected subscriber growth in both the U.S. and overseas.
J.P. Morgan said in a note the company is "back on track" following the release of its latest results.
CSX and Cree also reported better-than-expected earnings Tuesday after the close, while M&T Bank and U.S. Bancorp's results topped estimates Wednesday before the bell.
However, IBM reported mixed quarterly results, with earnings topping estimates and revenue missing. The results sent the company's stock down by more than 7%
Overall, the earnings season is off to a good start. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported thus far, 89.8% have topped analyst expectations
Wednesday's moves come a day after the major indexes posted their best day since March, boosted by strong earnings. On Tuesday, the Dow surged more than 500 points as Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, and UnitedHealth jumped. Tuesday's jump helped Wall Street recover some of the steep losses from last week. The Dow and S&P 500 fell more than 4% last week, while the NASDAQ lost 3.7%.
On the data front, housing starts fell 5.3% last month, more than expected.
At 2 p.m ET, the Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes of its meeting held in late September.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury enjoyed slight gains, lowering yields to 3.15% from Tuesday’s 3.16%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 97 cents at $70.95 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost 30 cents to $1,230.70 U.S. an ounce.
