“The index is still extremely resilient”, said Elvis Picardo, strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver, adding that corporate earnings were doing just enough to offset bearish economic data as investors continue to seek yield.
Advertisement
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 16.27 points at 14,796.75, with most sectors ending in the red and consumer staples and telecom leading declines.
New Gold slumped 7.9% to $6.68 after saying development costs for a mine in northwestern Ontario had risen.
The Canadian dollar lost ground today as the central bank struck a cautious note on the economy while announcing it was keeping its interest rate steady at 0.5 per cent.
Stephenson said the Fed would’ve had more of a case to hike rates if there had been an addition of at least 200,000 jobs. The U.S. company announced that its new smartphone models will be water- and dust-resistant. Analysts say the new iPhones could help Apple recover modestly from a recent dip in sales. December copper contracts were at US$2.086 per pound, up nearly a cent from Friday.
The index was closed on Monday for the Labour Day holiday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$44.12 per barrel while the October natural gas contract was at US$2.74 per mmBTU, down five cents from Friday. That was a third day of gains in a row for the USA futures. Prices have since fallen due to uncertainty over a deal, particularly after a meeting in Doha in April among the world’s largest producers to discuss output ended in failure.
“The markets’ view is let’s wait and see, and see what the Fed actually does instead of what it talks about doing because they don’t believe it anymore”, he said.
Other gainers included Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, up 2.8 per cent to $38.91 after announcing the commercial USA introduction of a constipation medication late on Tuesday.
Advertisement
The dollar was last down 0.3 per cent at 101.71 yen, having fallen as low as 101.18, its weakest since August 16, after a report from the Sankei newspaper that Bank of Japan policymakers are divided ahead of the central bank’s next meeting. The group contributed most to losses in the index.
