Canada's main stock index opened lower on Thursday, dragged down by miners as gold prices slipped after uncertainty over the Middle East conflict revived inflation concerns.
The TSX lost 137.54 points to open Thursday at 35,278.66.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.11 cents to 71.35 cents U.S.
In company news, Cogeco Communications missed third-quarter revenue estimates late on Wednesday, on a lower U.S. subscriber base.
Cogeco shares gained 47 cents to $64.82.
On the trade front, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer noted progress in formal trade talks with Mexico, while ?discussions with Canada ?had yet to produce concessions sought by President ?Donald Trump as he pushes to reduce U.S. trade ?deficits with the two countries.
Earlier this month, ?the Trump administration said it will not ?renew the USMCA ?trade agreement, but that the pact would remain in effect until the issues were ?resolved or the agreement terminated.
On the economic slate, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported housing starts were down 6% from the previous month to a seasonally adjust annual rate of 239,000 units in June, compared to a downwardly revised 253,000 units in May and falling short of markets expectations of 258,000 units.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dumped 15.66 points, or 1.8%, to 862.13.
Eight of the 12 subgroups were higher in the first hour of trade, led by consumer discretionary and consumer staple stocks, each up 1.5%, while telecoms were up 1.4%.
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, losing 2.6% of its luster, materials, weaker by 2.5%, and information technology stocks clicking 1.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell Thursday, after a slide in Taiwan Semiconductor following its latest earnings dragged down chip stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 64.56 points to 52,723.20.
The much broader index gained 28.82 points to 7,572.41
The NASDAQ Composite regained 162.22 points to 26,269.23.
Taiwan Semiconductor declined by 2%, as an increase in its spending forecast overshadowed a better-than-expected second-quarter report.
The company expects capital expenditures to clock in between $60 billion and $64 billion for the year, up from a prior guidance in the range of $52 billion to $56 billion.
Techs gained, led by a more than 6% drop in Arm Holdings. Shares of Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices were lower by more than 3%, each. Broadcom was lower by more than 2%. The U.S.-listed shares of SK Hynix slid more than 6%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury hiked, lowering yields to 4.58% from Wednesday’s 4.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 26 cents to $79.86 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dumped $53.40 to $3,998.40 U.S. an ounce.
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