The Canadian stock market is under pressure in early trade Wednesday. Geopolitical tensions have eased somewhat after China's President Xi Jinping called for a "peaceful" resolution to tensions over North Korea, in a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. However, global markets have been unable to break out of their recent doldrums.
The Bank of Canada has maintained its benchmark interest rate at 0.50 percent Wednesday morning. The decision was in line with expectations.
Markets in Europe are turning in a mixed performance Wednesday after early gains eroded. Political uncertainty in France has dented investor sentiment after a new poll showed that far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon's support increased by 7 percentage points in the French presidential race.
Markets in the United States dipped at the open Wednesday and have since traded sideways. Traders appear reluctant to make significant moves amid lingering geopolitical uncertainty as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The approaching Good Friday holiday also appears to be keeping some traders away from their desks.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 31.10 points or 0.20 percent at 15,696.01.
On Tuesday, the index closed down 3.68 points or 0.02 percent, at 15,727.11. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,738.31 and a low of 15,604.10.
The Capped Materials Index is down 0.73 percent. Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is losing 0.91 percent and Agrium (AGU.TO) is declining 1.01 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is also weakening by 1.11 percent.
The heavyweight Financial Index is decreasing 0.49 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is losing 0.76 percent and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is down 0.23 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is falling 0.56 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is declining 0.36 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is dropping 0.54 percent and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is lower by 0.68 percent.
The Capped Industrials Index is down 0.49 percent. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is falling 0.51 percent and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is lower by 0.95 percent. Finning International (FTT.TO) is declining 0.56 percent.
The Gold Index is declining 0.39 percent. Gold prices have continued to inch higher Wednesday morning. Geopolitical tensions continue to boost the precious metal's safe haven appeal.
B2Gold (BTO.TO) is decreasing 0.78 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is declining 0.34 percent. Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is slipping 0.07 percent.
The Capped Healthcare Index is lower by 0.26 percent. Concordia International (CXR.TO) is falling 2.15 percent.
The Capped Information Technology Index is gaining 1.21 percent. Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is increasing 0.14 percent and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is adding 0.30 percent.
BlackBerry (BB.TO) is surging 16.75 percent. The company announced a binding interim arbitration decision awarding the company $814.9 million in royalty overpayments made to Qualcomm.
The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is up 0.29 percent. Rogers Communications (RCI-B.TO) is gaining 0.39 percent and TELUS (T.TO) is rising 0.18 percent. BCE (BCE.TO) is also climbing 0.26 percent.
The Energy Index is rising 0.22 percent. Crude oil prices are nearly flat Wednesday morning, holding above $53 a barrel.
For a second week in a row, the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. inventories dwindled. This time, the API reported a 1.3 million barrel drawdown.
The U.S. EIA reported this morning that U.S. crude inventories declined by 2.2 million barrels last week.
Encana (ECA.TO) is higher by 0.31 percent and Husky Energy (HSE.TO) is climbing 0.71 percent. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is gaining 0.27 percent and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is increasing 1.14 percent. Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is rising 0.12 percent and Enbridge (ENB.TO) is adding 0.23 percent.
Shaw Communications (SJR-B.TO) is climbing 4.30 percent after it reported a profit for its second quarter that rose from last year.
On the economic front, China's inflation rose marginally on non-food prices in March, while factory gate inflation moderated as commodity prices weakened notably.
Inflation rose to 0.9 percent in March from 0.8 percent in February, data published by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday. Nonetheless, this was slightly slower than the expected 1 percent.
Another report from NBS showed that producer price inflation eased to 7.6 percent in March from 7.8 percent a month ago. Economists had forecast the annual rate to slow to 7.5 percent. The 7.8 percent increase seen in February was the fastest since 2008.
Germany's wholesale price inflation eased for the first time in five months in March, data from Destatis showed Wednesday.
Wholesale prices rose 4.7 percent year-over-year in March, slower than the 5.0 percent climb in February, which was the highest rate of increase since August 2011. The measure has been rising since October 2016.
The UK unemployment rate remained unchanged at the lowest level seen since 1975 amid weak earnings growth, official data showed Wednesday. The ILO jobless rate held steady at 4.7 percent in three months to February, the Office for National Statistics reported. It has not been lower since June to August 1975.
Reflecting a steep drop in fuel prices, the Labor Department released a report on Wednesday showing an unexpected decline in U.S. import prices in the month of March.
The Labor Department said import prices dipped by 0.2 percent in March after climbing by a revised 0.4 percent in February. The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected import prices to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.2 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said export prices rose by 0.2 percent in March following a 0.3 percent increase in February. Export prices had been expected to tick up by 0.1 percent.
In commodities, crude oil futures for May delivery are up 0.01 or 0.02 percent at $53.41 a barrel.
Natural gas for May is up 0.025 or 0.79 percent at $3.175 per million btu.
Gold futures for June are up $2.60 or 0.20 percent at $1,276.80 an ounce.
Silver for May is up $0.056 or 0.31 percent at $18.31 an ounce.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News