Canada’s main stock index was slightly down on Wednesday as gains in financial stocks from upbeat domestic lender earnings were countered by losses in mining shares, with investors focused on Nvidia’s quarterly results.
The TSX Composite Index dumped 87.87 points to move into Wednesday afternoon at 23,172.09.
The Canadian dollar backslid 0.07 cents to 74.3o cents U.S.
Investors assessed earnings from the Royal Bank of Canada and the National Bank of Canada, both of which reported higher third-quarter profits on Wednesday. RBC shares improved $3.87, or 2.5%, to $160.44, while National shares jumped $5.60, or 4.7%, to $125.49.
In corporate news, Canadian energy firm Pieridae Energy Limited announced equity rights offering of $30 million, along with a standby offering of $25 million. Pieridae shares stayed put at 32 cents.
The information technology sector dropped 0.8%, pulled down by a 12% fall in Canadian software firm Kinaxis, after it announced its CEO, John Sicard, will retire from his role.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 3.04 points, or 1.4%, to 564.99.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative, with materials down 2.3%, gold dipping 2.1%, and information technology off 1.3%.
The four gainers were led by financials, up 0.6%, while communications each climbed 0.4%, and industrials up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors sent the NASDAQ Composite lower on Wednesday as they waited for Nvidia’s quarterly earnings announcement.
The Dow Jones Industrials slipped 113.46 points to commence Wednesday at 41,137.04
The S&P 500 skidded 29.76 points to 5,596.04
The tech-heavy NASDAQ faded 187.24 points, or 1.1%, to 17,567.58.
Wall Street is keeping an eye on Nvidia to gauge the sustainability of the broader tech and AI trade. The semiconductor giant — slated to report after the close — has surged 159% in 2024, raising questions of how much more room there is for the stock to run. On Wednesday, it fell 2%.
Nordstrom advanced 5% after the retailer posted adjusted earnings in the second quarter that surpassed expectations. Semiconductor developer Ambarella jumped nearly 11% on upbeat revenue guidance in the third quarter. PVH, owner of Calvin Klein, slumped more than 6% on a disappointing outlook for the current quarter.
Elsewhere, a regulatory filing showed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold shares of Bank of America once again. The conglomerate dumped more than 24 million shares for $981.9 million in earlier sessions.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury inched higher, lowering yields to 3.83% from Tuesday’s 3.84%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 64 cents at $74.89 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $8.90 to $2,544.00.
