Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday, with mining shares leading the declines, as investors rushed to book profits ahead of the U.S. presidential election and Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting next week.
The TSX was still negative, 5.16 points, to 24,557.39.
The Canadian dollar edged up 0.01 cents to 71.88 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Air Canada will increase direct flights between China and Canada from December, the news arm of China's aviation regulator said, after Ottawa removed a 2022 limit on how many services Chinese carriers could fly to Canada. Shares in “The Maple Leaf Airline” remained positive 13 cents to $19.29.
Secure Energy shares rose $1.35, or 9.8%, to $15.12 after posting third-quarter results.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 2.71 points to 617.02.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were still positive, led by consumer staples, up 0.8%, energy, rumbling 0.7%, while utilities inched up 0.3%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, dulling 1.3%, while materials sank 1.1%, and communications stocks fell 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks climbed higher Wednesday as investors digested a deluge of earnings reports and looked toward more results from megacap technology companies.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 198.02 points to greet Wednesday afternoon at 42,431.97
The S&P 500 index moved ahead 15.97 points to 5,848.71
The NASDAQ grabbed 45.65 points to 18,758.40.
Alphabet kicked off a major week for megacap tech earnings. The Google parent exceeded analysts’ expectations as the company saw strong quarterly revenue growth from its cloud business. Shares surged around 6%.
Elsewhere, earnings results were less upbeat. Shares of chipmaker AMD slid 10% as its fourth-quarter revenue guidance failed to impress investors. The broader semiconductor sector fell as shares of Super Micro Computer plunged 32% after the departure of the company’s auditor raised concerns about its financial statements.
Tech titans Meta Platforms and Microsoft are set to report on Wednesday, while Apple and Amazon are due Thursday.
On the economic front, the latest numbers pointed to a mixed backdrop.
The U.S. economy grew at a slower-than-expected rate in the third quarter, according to gross domestic product figures for the third quarter. GDP rose at a 2.8% annualized rate, while economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for an increase of 3.1%.
However, payrolls data on Wednesday pointed to a stronger-than-expected labor market. According to the latest ADP report for October, private-job creation jumped to its highest level in more than a year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained Wednesday, lowering yields to 4.25% from Tuesday’s 4.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped $1.65 to $68.88 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold jumped $14.60 an ounce to $2.795.70 U.S.
