Canadian stocks fell for the third straight day on Wednesday as oil dropped to a three-week low in New York amid speculation that an unexpected decline in crude inventories is but temporary.
The S&P/TSX composite index slouched 96.93 points to end the day at 12,185.72
The Canadian dollar stumbled 0.34 cents to 71.78 cents U.S.
Technology stocks surged as Open Text Corp. increased $5.95, or 10%, to $65.51, after the company posted quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. Celestica Inc. gained 33 cents, or 2.6%, to $13.01.
Energy stocks fell hard as well, as Encana Corp. declined 45 cents, or 8.5% to $4.86, while Cenovus Energy Inc. dropped $1.24, or 8.4%, to $13.52. Canadian Natural Resources fell 76 cents, or 2.7%, to $27.36, and Suncor Energy was down 41 cents, or 1.4%, to $29.54.
Also faring badly were metals stocks, with Teck Resources off eight cents, or 1.5%, to $5.44.
On the other hand, gold stocks did better, in particular, Barrick Gold, up 54 cents, or 3.5%, to $16.11, and Goldcorp surged 69 cents, or 3.5%, to $20.31.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 0.18 points to 505.31
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, as metals and mining dropped off 3.1%, energy was 2.3% less energetic, and utilities swooned 1.9%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by information technology, moving ahead 1.5%, gold, shining brighter 1.3%, and consumer discretionary issues, up 0.6%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday as investors digested remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, as well another choppy trading day in oil.
The Dow Jones industrial average faded 99.64 points to 15,914.74, with Disney leading decliners and Nike leading advancers.
The S&P 500 subtracted 0.97 points to 1,851.24, with health-care leading six sectors higher and materials the greatest decliner.
The NASDAQ index hung onto gains of 14.83 points to 4,283.59, as technology stocks gained ground. Netflix climbed 2.7% and Alphabet shares moved forward 0.8%.
Earnings season continued Wednesday morning, with Time Warner and Humana, among others, reporting before the bell. Cisco Systems, Tesla Motors, Twitter and Whole Foods are scheduled to report after the bell.
Yellen delivered her remarks to Congress this morning, in which she noted that, if the U.S. economy were to disappoint, the Fed would have to reconsider its rate hike path.
Petroleum prices briefly jumped more than 3.5% after the Energy Information Administration said that U.S. oil inventories fell 0.8 million barrels, before closing 49 cents lower, or 1.8%
The oil market has been maligned by oversupply concerns throughout the year, pushing U.S. crude down about 24% this year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 1.69% from Tuesday’s 1.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 42 cents a barrel to $27.52 U.S.
Gold prices moved higher $6.87 to $1,196 U.S. an ounce.
