Canada’s main stock index wavered between gains and losses at open on Wednesday as financials fell on disappointing earnings from top banks that offset gains in mining stocks, following a rebound in manufacturing activity in China.
The TSX grabbed 56.8 points to open Wednesday at 20,277.99
The Canadian dollar added 0.15 cents to 73.43 cents U.S.
Royal Bank and the National Bank, among the country’s top lenders, reported lower quarterly profits as bigger rainy-day funds to deal with economic uncertainty outweighed gains stemming from higher interest rates.
RBC shares backpedaled $3.95, or 2.9%, to $134.59, while those for National moved forward $2.43, or 2.4%, to $102.65.
On the economic slate, the Markit Canada Manufacturing PMI for February registered 52.4, up from 51.0 in January, and the highest reading recorded by the survey since last July. It was also the second month in a row that the index has recorded above the 50.0 no-change mark that separates growth from contraction.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.39 points to 633.85.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were on the march in the first hour of trade, with materials stronger 2.2%, gold brighter 2.1%, and energy gushing 0.9%.
The five laggards were weighed most by information technology and financial, each down 0.4%, and health-care, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities were lower on Wednesday, the first day of March, as traders tried to recover their footing following a losing month and bond yields continued their climb.
The Dow Jones Industrials subtracted 44.57 points to begin trading at 32,612.13.
The S&P 500 fell 19.76 points to 3,950.39.
The NASDAQ Composite backtracked 63.56 points to 11,390.71.
Sentiment initially got a boost after the release of much stronger-than-expected data out of China. The country’s National Bureau of Statistics said its official manufacturing PMI rose to 52.6 in February — a high not seen since April 2012.
The moves come after Wall Street closed out a losing February for stocks on Tuesday. The Dow led the averages down, closing the month down 4.2%. The S&P 500 let go of 2.6%, and the NASDAQ shed 1.1%.
February’s slide dragged the Dow into negative territory for the year, while the other two indexes are still holding onto their gains.
The decline marked a turn from January’s rally and was prompted in part by the bombshell jobs data that came in the first week of the month, according to Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 517,000 in January, according to the report, which crushed the 187,000 estimated by economists polled by Dow Jones.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury hesitated, raising yields to 3.99% from Tuesday’s 3.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 32 cents to $76.73 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $13.00 to $1,849.70 U.S. an ounce.