Equities in Toronto closed Wednesday on the negative side, as losses in real-estate counteracted any positive moves by energy stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index subtracted 59.06 points to end Wednesday at 16,312.22
The Canadian dollar was up 0.35 cents to 76.23 cents U.S.
In real-estate, units of Boardwalk REIT lurched lower $1.66, or 4%, to $39.64, while Summit Industrial Income REIT lost 49 cents, or 3.7%, to $12.86.
Among industrial interests, Morneau-Shepell dipped 54 cents, or 1.8%, to $29.06, while Stentec Inc. faltered 67 cents, or 2.1%, to $31.22.
In the utilities sector, Transalta Corp. slipped 39 cents, or 4.6%, to $8.10, while Capital Power let go of 55 cents, or 1.8%, to $30.41.
Energy stocks provided one of the few rays of hope, as CES Energy Solutions skyrocketed 21 cents, or 9.3%, to $2.47, while Parex
Resources jumped $1.10, or 5.3%, to $21.89.
Health-care stocks also finished in the green, with Bausch Health Companies surging 70 cents, or 2.2%, to $32.80, while Aurora Cannabis acquired 16 cents, or 1.6%, to $10.00.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.08 points at 580.07
All but two of the 12 Toronto subgroups remained in the red by day’s end, with real-estate down 2%, industrials, off 1%, and utilities sliding 0.7%
Only energy, up 1.8%, and health-care, picking up 1%, enjoyed gains.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 posted a four-day losing streak on Wednesday — its longest slide since early May — as investors braced for a key meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased gains and fell 11.4 points to end off at 26,536.82, after rising more than 100 points to start off the session.
The S&P 500 backpedaled 3.6 points to 2,913.78, led by the energy and tech sectors.
The NASDAQ Composite hung onto gains of 25.25 points to 7,909.97, as Micron shares led semiconductor stocks higher. Micron surged more than 13%. Nvidia rose 5.1% while On Semiconductor climbed 4.2%.
Micron was told it could "lawfully resume" shipments to Chinese telecom giant Huawei. The stock also got a boost from better-than-expected quarterly results.
FedEx shares rose more than 2% after the company reported quarterly earnings that topped analyst expectations.
Stocks traded higher for most of Wednesday’s session after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters he thinks "there’s a path" for the U.S. and China to complete a trade deal. His comment came ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan later this week.
"We were about 90% of the way there (with a deal) and I think there’s a path to complete this," Mnuchin told reporters on Wednesday, without providing detail on what the final 10% of an agreement might entail.
Bloomberg News also reported that the U.S. was willing to suspend tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods as the two sides resume trade talks.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, raising yields to 2.05% from Tuesday’s 1.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.43 to $59.26 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $6.10 to $1,412.60 U.S. an ounce.
