Equities in Canada’s largest centre dawdled just south of the breakeven point Wednesday, as health-care and energy stocks dragged down much of the market.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 31.78 points to close at 16,123.38
The Canadian dollar docked 0.14 cents at 74.59 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks took the biggest clubbing, as Canopy Growth slid $2.25, or 3.8%, to $57.48, and Aurora Cannabis retreated 42 cents, or 3.4%, to 11.81.
Among the big decliner was MEG Energy Corp, down 19 cents, or 3.5%, to $5.28. Elsewhere in energy issues, Imperial Oil faded 45 cents, or 1.2%, to $36.04.
Gold stocks didn’t have their usual mojo, either, as Barrick Gold gave way 27 cents, or 1.4%, to $19.15, while IAMGOLD skidded 12 cents, or 2.4%, to $4.85.
Consumer staples, however, proved the strongest of the gainers, as Restaurant Brands International picked up $1.02, or 1.2%, to $87.06, while Metro took on 19 cents to $49.14.
In real estate, Colliers International Group lifted itself $1.48, or 1.7%, to $87.99, while Brookfield Asset Management gained 16 cents to $61.92.
Communications stocks were in the winner’s circle, as well, with BCE ahead 14 cents to $59.55, while Rogers Communications climbed 40 cents to $71.91.
In macroeconomic news, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings were $1,012 in January, little changed from the previous month. Compared with 12 months earlier, earnings grew by 2.0%.
Moreover, the agency said, Canada's trade deficit shrank slightly to $4.25 billion in January, the second highest on record, as low crude prices continued to eat into the value of exports,
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 7.56 points to 627.06
The 12 Toronto subgroups were divided equally, as health-care dived 2.9%, energy sputtered 1.6%, and gold dulled in price 1.1%.
Consumer staples led the half-dozen gainers, up 1.1%, while real-estate moved ahead 0.8%, and communications strengthened 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Wednesday after a closely watched interest rate fell to its lowest level in more than a year as worries over a possible economic slowdown lingered.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved to within 32.14 points of breakeven to close Wednesday at 25,625.59
The S&P 500 faded 13.09 points to 2,805.37
The NASDAQ Composite stayed negative 48.15 points to 7,643.38, as a 0.9% gain in Apple was overshadowed by losses in Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet.
Health-care, utilities and energy were the worst-performing sectors, falling more than half a percent each. Abiomed and Advanced Micro Devices were among the biggest laggards in the S&P 500, sliding more than 3% each. Hard disk maker Western Digital also fell 3.6%.
Shares of WellCare Health Plans surged more than 12.3% after announcing it would sell itself to Centene for $15.27 billion in a cash-and-stock deal. Centene shares, meanwhile, dropped 5%.
Boeing rose 1% after the company unveiled fixes to its 737 Max planes, which follow two deadly crashes involving the plane in less than six months.
The U.S. trade deficit fell to $51.15 billion in January, much more than was expected and could give a boost to this quarter's GDP.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed, lowering yields to 2.39% -- hitting their lowest level since Dec. 15, 2017 -- from Tuesday’s 2.42%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Today’s was a development that investors call an inverted yield curve and is seen as an early indicator of a recession.
Oil prices dwindled 55 cents to $59.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $6.60 to $1,308.40 U.S. an ounce.
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