Equities in Toronto fell on Wednesday, as weak oil prices dragged down energy shares, while investors digested an interest rate decision from the Bank of Canada.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 133.23 points to begin the mid-week session at 16,164.23
The Canadian dollar lost 0.12 cents to 74 cents U.S.
U.S. oil and gas producer Devon Energy said it would sell its Canadian assets to Canadian Natural Resources for $3.8 billion in cash as part of an ongoing effort to become a pure-play oil producer.
Natural Resources shares were down three cents to $35.42.
Canada Goose Holdings posted its slowest revenue growth in eight quarters that also missed estimates, sending shares of the luxury coat maker down more than 10% before the bell.
Canada Goose collapsed $15.44, or 23.2%, to $51.19.
Bank of Montreal missed analysts' estimates for second-quarter profit as higher expenses and provisions for bad loans offset gains in its retail banking business.
BMO dropped $2.15, or 2.1%, to $100.89.
Eight Capital started coverage on Alcanna with a buy rating and a price target of $9.50. Alcanna fell seven cents, or 1.2%, to $5.84.
RBC raised the target price on TCP Energy to $75.00 from $71.00.
TCP Energy, formerly TransCanada Corporation, fell 90 cents, or 1.4%, to $65.76.
The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1.75%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 2% and the deposit rate is 1.5%
A poll of economists showed on Friday that the central bank is done raising interest rates until at least the end of next year with economists pricing a 40% chance of a rate cut by the end of 2020.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange doffed 1.85 points to 604.33.
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups were lower, with health-care ducking 3.4%, consumer discretionary dropped 2.3%, and energy lost 1.2%.
The three gainers were gold, picking up 0.6%, materials, inching up 0.2%, and communications, eking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Wednesday as bond yields declined again, triggering concerns about the economic outlook. Increasing trade tensions in the China-U.S. trade fight also weighed on markets.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 163.24 points to 25,184.53
The S&P 500 lost 14.46 points to 2,787.93
The NASDAQ Composite faded 40.69 points to 7,566.66
Bank shares fell along with yields. Citigroup and Bank of America both fell more than 0.5% while J.P. Morgan Chase lost 0.4%.
Traders were also keeping an eye on the Justice Department after announcing special counsel Robert Mueller will make a statement on the Russian probe.
Washington and Beijing have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods since the start of 2018, battering financial markets and souring business and consumer sentiment.
In the latest move, China made a veiled threat this week through state media regarding rare earth minerals, a market crucial to the U.S. technology and defense industries which China dominates.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, lowering yields to 2.23% from Tuesday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices ditched $1.30 to $57.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $4.60 to $1,278.70 U.S. an ounce.
