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Stocks tail off at open
Canada's main stock index opened lower on Thursday, as materials sector shares fell, weighed down by Barrick Gold Corp.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slid 15.7 points to kick off Thursday at 16,405.06
The Canadian dollar deferred 0.01 cents at 76.64 cents U.S.
Husky Energy reported a profit of $448 million on Thursday, up from a loss of $93 million a year earlier, helped by higher crude oil prices.
Husky shares gained 32 cents, or 1.6%, to $20.97.
Lundin Mining said on Thursday that it formally commenced an offer to acquire Nevsun Resources Ltd for $4.75 per share in cash, valuing the base metals miner at around $1.44 billion.
Lundin shares acquired a penny to $7.30, while Nevsun issues picked up three cents to $4.79.
Teck Resources beat analyst estimates for quarterly profit on Wednesday as higher prices more than offset lower-than-expected sales volume of metallurgical coal. Teck shares galloped $1.11, or 3.4%, to $33.70.
RBC raised the target price on Aimia Inc. to $5.00 from $2.00. Aimia shares acquired 14 cents, or 4.1%, to $3.53.
CIBC raised the price target on Loblaw Companies to $81.00 from $78.00. Loblaw shares gained 61 cents to $69.14.
RBC raised the target price Toromont Industries to $65.00 from $60.00. Toromont shares lost 14 cents to $66.00.
Turning to matters macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings for workers in this country were $998 in May, up 0.4% from April following five months of virtually no change.
The agency adds that, in the 12 months to May, earnings increased by 2.9%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved lower 0.53 points to 706.79
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground, primarily gold and health-care, each off 1.6%, and materials, down 0.6%.
The five gainers were led by consumer discretionary stocks, clicking up 0.4%, energy, up 0.3%, and consumer staples, inching up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500 opened lower on Thursday after a sharp decline in Facebook sent tech shares lower.
The Dow Jones Industrials galloped 117.28 points to open at 25,531.38
The S&P 500 dropped 7.49 points to 2,838.58
The NASDAQ dumped 75.02 points to 7,857.22, on track for its worst day since June 27, when it plunged 1.5%
Facebook shares dropped nearly 20%, a day after its quarterly revenue missed expectations. Global daily active users, a key metric for the social media giant, also disappointed investors. Additionally, Facebook said it expects its revenue growth rates to slow down from last year. Facebook's earnings per share,
The decline in Facebook's stock dragged down the entire tech sector, with shares of Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet all trading lower.
Facebook's negative results offset strong earnings from NBCUniversal-parent Comcast, Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices.
Comcast shares rose 1.5%, while Qualcomm jumped 5.6% and Advanced Micro Devices improved 8.8% on better-than-expected earnings.
The decline in Facebook also overshadowed positive news on trade. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. and the European Union had initiated a "new phase" within their relationship, explaining how both regions would start collaborating in order to lower tariffs and avoid a potential trade war.
Trump's announcement comes after trade relations between the U.S. and E.U. had been strained in recent months. Shares of Caterpillar rose 0.5% Caterpillar is a company sensitive to trade tensions given its large exposure to overseas revenue. Caterpillar's gains helped lift the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 150 points. 3M, another company with large overseas revenue exposure, also rose 1%.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury surrendered previous gains, raising yields to 2.95% from Wednesday’s 2.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 17 cents to $69.47 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices let go of $4.60 to $1,227.20 U.S. an ounce.
