Stocks in Toronto gave it the good, old college try Wednesday, but couldn’t quite climb out of the cellar, with gold and materials stocks weighing things down.
The S&P/TSX fought to within 14.04 points of breakeven to end Wednesday at 16,784.29
The Canadian dollar shed 0.14 cents at 75.39 cents U.S.
Gold took the biggest tumble Wednesday, as Eldorado Gold plummeted 90 cents, or 7.6%, to $10.95, while Yamana Gold dipped 24 cents, or 5%, to $4.56.
Among other resource stocks, Endeavour Mining slouched $1.28, or 4.5%, to $27.51, while MAG Silver dropped a dollar, or 6.1%, to $15.43.
Communications issues got whacked as well, with Quebecor falling 41 cents, or 1.3%, to $30.77, while Cineplex shares 31 cents, or 1.2%, to $25.24.
Among gainers, tech stocks ruled supreme, as Shopify surged $26.19, or 6.7%, to $416.91, while Sierra Wireless gained 24 cents, or 1.7%, to $14.65.
Health-care stocks moved higher, primarily Canopy Growth, which, well… grew 91 cents, or 2.9%, to $32.69, while Cronos Group found its way north 30 cents, or 2.4%, to $12.69.
Real-estate also enjoyed success, led by units of Killam Apartment REIT, traveling 31 cents, or 1.6%, to $20.11, while Summit Industrial REIT tacked on 17 cents, or 1.3%, to $13.05.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 5.06 points to 578.38
The 12 Toronto subgroups were evenly distributed, as information technology sprang 1.8%, health-care hiked 0.7%, and real-estate jumped 0.6%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, down 2.7%, materials slumped 2%, and communications dipped 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said a U.S.-China trade deal could arrive sooner than expected. Investors also pored through a rough transcript of Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president from earlier this year.
The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 162.94 points to 26,970.71
The S&P 500 finished positive 18.27 points to 2,984.87
The NASDAQ Composite spiked 83.76 points, or 1.1%, to 8077.38
Tech was the best-performing sector in the S&P 500, rallying more than 1% along with consumer services. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet all closed higher.
Nike shares were among the biggest contributors to the Dow’s gains. The shoe maker’s stock jumped 4.2% on better-than-expected quarterly results. CEO Mark Parker said a stronger e-commerce business and products such as the new Joyride running shoe lifted the Nike’s results.
Stronger-than-expected new U.S. home sales data also mitigated some of the uncertainty coming out of Washington.
Trump told reporters at the United Nations in New York that a U.S/China deal could come sooner “than you think.” Both countries have been engaged in trade negotiations since last year. The back and forth between China and the U.S. has sent ripples through global financial markets as investors assess the trade war’s impact on the global economy.
The so-called transcript was released after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday she will launch a formal impeachment inquiry on Trump.
Pelosi’s announcement follows a call in which Trump allegedly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s family. Trump has admitted to bringing up Biden on the call — tweeting he will release a transcript of it — but denies pressuring Zelensky.
The call is believed to be part of an intelligence community whistleblower complaint Democrats have asked the administration to release. They say the complaint would hold details not available in the call’s transcript.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury were lower, making yields spike to 1.73%, from Tuesday’s 1.66%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices sank 79 cents to $56.50 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $28.80 to $1,511.40 U.S. an ounce.
