Equities in Toronto edged lower on Thursday, as investors digested conflicting reports of a potential trade truce between the United States and China at a high-stakes meeting of their leaders at the G20 summit this weekend.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained in the red 36.28 points to roll into noon hour ET at 16,275.94
The Canadian dollar nosed up 0.07 cents to 76.26 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Air Canada, which jumped $1.09, or 2.8%, to $40.45, after tour operator Transat AT accepted the airline's all-cash offer of $520 million over a higher rival bid. Transat slipped 7.3%.
Empire Co rose 65 cents, or 2.1%, to $32.00, after the grocery store chain reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit.
BlackBerry fell 46 cents, or 4.7%, the most on the TSX, to $9.44, a day after reporting lower-than-expected sales for its biggest business that led brokerages to cut their price targets.
The second-biggest decliner was Alacer Gold, down seven cents, or 1.6%, to $4.40.
On the economic blotter, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,023 in April, up 0.7% from March.
Compared with 12 months earlier, earnings grew by 2.9%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved doggedly ahead, 1.57 points, to 581.62
The 12 Toronto subgroups were evenly split, as health-care gained 1%, while consumer discretionary improved 0.9% and information technology climbed 0.6%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by energy issues, down 1.9%, while gold dulled in price 1.7%, and materials sank 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rose on Thursday, on pace to snap a four-day losing streak, as investors await trade clues from an upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered 13.54 points at 26,550.36, as Boeing losses weight on the 30-stock index.
The S&P 500 gained 11.72 points to 2,925.50, as the financials and real-estate sectors outperformed.
The NASDAQ Composite strengthened 47.05 points to 7,957.05
Walgreens shares climbed 3.7% after the pharmacy operator reported better-than-expected quarterly results. The company’s numbers were driven by higher prescription drug sales, according to CEO Stefano Pessina.
Boeing shares fell 2.6% after the Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that it has found an issue with the 737 Max that the planemaker must address before it lifts the national grounding order.
Travelers shares slid 0.4% after an analyst at Deutsche Bank downgraded them to sell from hold, noting the company’s bottom line will take a hit in part because of tornado-related catastrophes.
On the data front, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew at a solid rate of 3.1% in the first quarter. But some components like consumer spending and business investments grew at a slower pace than previously estimated.
Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan on Saturday. The two leaders are expected to discuss trade, with investors looking for clues on whether China and the U.S. can make progress towards ending their ongoing trade war.
China and the U.S. have been in a trade war for more than a year. The U.S. has imposed tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. China has retaliated with tariffs on U.S. products. An agreement between Trump and Xi at the G-20 summit in Japan would avert the next round of tariffs on additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, felling yields to 2.02% from Wednesday’s 2.05%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up five cents to $59.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skidded $6.20 to $1,409.20 U.S. an ounce.
