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Stocks succumb to trade pressure
Trade uncertainty reared its ugly head once again on stock markets worldwide Wednesday, resulting in red ink being spilled on indexes in Toronto.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index finished lower by 45.23 points Wednesday at 16,049.02
The Canadian dollar grew 0.34 cents to 76.90 cents.
Among the largest percentage gainers on the TSX were shares of New Gold Inc., which jumped 24 cents, or 23.3%, to $1.27, after the company named a new chief executive officer.
Barrick Gold advanced 33 cents, or 2.5%, to $13.14.
Shares of Bausch Health Companies jumped $3.28, or 12.1%, to $30.40, helping the health-care sector rise. The company's shares rose after it resolved intellectual property litigation related to its bowel disorder drug, Xifaxan, with Actavis Laboratories.
Elsewhere in health-care, Aurora Cannabis added 17 cents, or 1.9%, to $9.26.
In the materials sector, Agnico Eagle Mines soared $1.20, or 2.8%, to $44.54, while First Quantum Minerals ballooned 58 cents, or 4%, to $15.28.
Industrials sagged, as Canadian National Railway retreated $1.48, or 1.3%, to $112.41, while Air Canada shares were grounded 11 cents to $27.22.
The financial sector slipped as shares of Royal Bank of Canada dropped 50 cents to $103.25, Toronto-Dominion Bank dipped 42 cents to $78.70, and Bank of Montreal fell 82 cents to $106.26.
Among telecoms, BCE Inc. handed back 30 cents to $52.94, while Rogers Communications sank 30 cents to $68.02
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries further trimmed its forecast for 2019 global oil demand growth and said the risk to the economic outlook was skewed to the downside, adding a new challenge to OPEC's efforts to support the market next year.
Canada is ready to offer the United States limited access to the Canadian dairy market as a concession in negotiations to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 4.3 points to 726.50
Seven of the 12 subgroups were higher by day’s end, as gold hiked 2.5%, while health-care muscled higher 2.2%, and materials advanced 1.8%
The five laggards were weighed most by industrials, shedding 1.2%, financials, handing over 0.7%, and telecoms, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Wednesday as comments from a top 3M executive washed out the positive sentiment from a possible renewal of U.S.-China trade talks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average came way off its highs of the day, but managed to hang onto 27.86 points of gains to 25,998.92, as shares of 3M dropped 2.7%. CFO Nick Gangestad said 3M expects higher raw materials costs to be a headwind for its bottom line. Those comments sent the 30-stock index lower after it had rallied 174.66 points on news of a potential restart to U.S.-China trade talks.
The S&P 500 poked ahead 1.03 points to finish at 2,888.92
The NASDAQ weakened 18.25 points to 7,954.23
Shares of Micron dropped more than 5% after Goldman Sachs downgraded them to neutral from buy, citing a "snowballing" decline in memory-chip demand.
Shares of Dow-member Intel fell 0.7% while Applied Materials dropped 2.4%, and Lam Research gave up 2.7%.
Tech shares have also fallen amid increasing regulatory pressure toward social media companies, especially Facebook and Twitter. Facebook shares slipped 1.3% while Twitter dropped 2.5%
Apple shares, meanwhile, fell more than 1.5% ahead of an expected unveiling of new iPhone models.
Dow Jones reported that the U.S. is proposing a new round of talks with China in the near future. The report says the talks are aimed at getting bilateral economic negotiations back on track.
Boeing, a bellwether for global trade, rose 2.5%, while Caterpillar, in much the same vein, picked up 1.5%.
China will seek permission from the World Trade Organization to inflict sanctions upon the U.S. as tensions between the two largest global economies continue. Last Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters that he was "ready to go" on hitting China with an additional $267 billion worth of tariffs, on top the already $200 billion in tariffs, previously announced.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained a bit of ground, weighing down yields to 2.97% from Tuesday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 99 cents to $70.24 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $8.90 to $1,208.30
