Canada's main stock index fell slightly on Wednesday, taking a breather after rallying to record-high levels this month on the back of domestic and U.S. interest-rate cuts and optimism around China stimulus.
The TSX Composite Index docked 16.59 points to stop for lunch Wednesday at 23,935.63, after four straight gaining sessions.
The TSX has gained 14.1% for the year, partly driven by the country's policy easing cycle. The Bank of Canada cut rates for the third time in a row in September.
The Canadian dollar sank 0.26 cents to 74.25 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Magna International lost $1.95, or 3.4%, to $55.58 after Morgan Stanley downgraded its stock to "equal-weight" from "overweight".
Middlefield Global Real Asset Fund said its unitholders approved its merger with mutual fund Real Estate Split Corp. Units of Middlefield gained two cents Wednesday to $7.78.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 2.04 points to 595.07.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, energy dumping 1%, while consumer discretionary stocks fell 0.6%, and communications ditched 0.4%.
The half-dozen gainers were buoyed by utilities and gold, each up 0.4%, and materials, climbing 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 hovered around the flatline Wednesday as Wall Street tried to extend its September gains.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 249.54 points to 41,958.68
The much-broader index skidded 5.28 points to 5,729.65.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 23.87 points to 18,098.39.
Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise advanced more than 5% following an upgrade from Barclays, citing strong artificial data center demand as a positive catalyst. Stock in German software company SAP slipped more than 2% after news that the firm was being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. General Motors stock pulled back nearly 6% after a downgrade from Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas. Nvidia stock advanced 2.2%, with the gain helping lift the artificial intelligence darling’s market capitalization to above $3 trillion.
All three averages are on track for a positive September, though fears of a slowing economy still linger after last week’s rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
On the data front, new home sales slipped 4.7% in August to 716,000, down from July’s revised reading of 751,000. Investors will also look toward weekly jobless claims on Thursday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped, lifting yields to 3.77% from Tuesday’s 3.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.60 at $69.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $3.20 to $2,680.20 U.S. an ounce
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