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Stocks flat at open
Stock markets in Canada’s busiest centre had trouble budging off Tuesday’s closing figures, as retreats in discretionary and energy stocks fended off gains in health issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index sagged 9.1 points to open Wednesday at 16,277.20
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.05 cents at 76.52 cents U.S.
Magna International lowered its full-year production forecast for North America, hurt in part by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
Magna stumbled $4.99, or 6.5%, to $71.89.
Thomson Reuters reported a 2% rise in quarterly revenue and reaffirmed its 2018 forecast, saying it was on track for a "solid" year.
Shares in Thomson catapulted $1.54, or 2.9% to $55.07.
Air France-KLM's nominations committee has picked Benjamin Smith, Air Canada's chief operating officer, as its preferred candidate to head the airline, French newspaper Le Monde reported.
As for the Maple Leaf airline, its shares got lift of 33 cents, or 1.5%, to $24.11.
RBC cut the target price on Linamar Corp. to $83.00 from $86.00. Linamar shares moved backward $2.62, or 4.5%, to $55.20.
RBC raised the target price on Kirkland Lake Gold to $32.00 from $26.00. Kirkland Lake shares lost 18 cents to $28.88.
CIBC cut the target price on Western Forest Products to $3.00 from $3.25. Western Forest shares eked up two cents to $2.40.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that Canadian municipalities issued $8.1 billion worth of building permits, down 2.3% from the previous month.
The agency attributes the decline to lower construction intentions for residential buildings, following a strong May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 0.33 points Wednesday to 701.19
All but three of the 12 subgroups were higher in the day’s first hour, led by gains in health-care, ahead 1.9%, gold, up 0.9%, and consumer staples, improving 0.4%.
The three laggards proved to be consumer discretionary stocks, down 1.6%, energy, off 0.9%, and telecoms, creeping back 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks opened lower on Wednesday after China unveiled new tariffs on U.S. goods. Disney shares also contributed to the broader market's decline.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tailed off 37.03 points to 25,591.88, with Disney as the biggest laggard.
The S&P 500 lost 2.22 points to 2,856.23, with energy underperforming.
The NASDAQ let go of 0.96 points to 7,882.71
The S&P 500 closed Tuesday's session just 0.5% from a record high. If the index breaks above 2,872.87, it would notch its first all-time high since Jan. 26. The NASDAQ was also less than 1% away from a record while the Dow remained 3.7% below its all-time high through Tuesday's close.
Amazon and Apple are among the companies that have reported better-than-expected earnings. CVS Health also posted better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday, sending its shares up by 3.7%
There have been some notable disappointments this season, however. Facebook shares lost about a fifth of their value after releasing its quarterly figures. Most recently, Disney shares dropped more than 1% after the media giant posted weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue.
Wall Street is nearing end of the latest corporate earnings season. Nearly 90% of S&P 500 companies have released their calendar second-quarter. Of those companies, 76.4% have reported better-than-forecast quarterly profits.
If the earnings season ends with at least 80% of companies beating estimates, it would mark the first time that has happened since the data was first tracked in 2008.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced a 25% charge on $16 billion worth of U.S. goods. The goods being targeted by China include vehicles such as large passenger cars and motorcycles. Various fuels are on the list, as well as fiber optical cables.
China's announcement comes after the U.S. Trade Representative's office released a finalized list of $16 billion worth in Chinese goods that will be hit with tariffs. The U.S. charges will take effect on Aug. 23. The latest U.S. list brings the total worth of Chinese goods facing a 25% tariff to $50 billion.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 2.97% from Tuesday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices surrendered $1.39 to $67.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gave back 40 cents to $1,217.90 U.S. an ounce.
