Toronto stocks pared losses to trade flat on Wednesday, as gains in energy stocks offset declines in materials shares, while investors awaited minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting for clues on further rate hikes.
The TSX gained 38.86 points to move into noon hour at 19,938.65.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.1 cents to 74.03 cents U.S.
Cresco Labs will report quarterly results later in the day. Its stock grabbed 10 cents, or 7.1%, to $1.50.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada notifies us wholesale sales fell 2.8% to $80.5 billion in June., while Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation informed us that housing starts fell sharply in July to 255,000, from June’s 281,573.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged up 1.94 points to 591.42.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups had moved into the green by noon hour, with health-care powering 2.4%, energy ahead 1.3%, and consumer staples better by 1.1%.
The four laggards were led by financials, down 0.3%, while information technology and gold each slid 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 traded barely higher Wednesday as traders awaited the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting. Wall Street was coming off a losing session that marked the latest leg down in an August slump.
The blue-chip remained in positive territory 77.1 points to break for lunch Wednesday at 35,023.49.
The much-broader index edged past breakeven 0.44 points to 4,438.30.
The NASDAQ index settled 40.35 points to 13,590.70.
Energy shares rebounded Wednesday after declining more than 2% Wednesday. Marathon Oil, Phillips 66 and APA led the sector gains.
Meanwhile, the backend of the corporate earnings season rolled on. Target shares popped close to 4.8% even after the retailer cut its full-year outlook. Insurance company Progressive jumped 9%, also on the back of its earnings report.
The Fed is slated to post the minutes from its July meeting at 2 p.m. ET. Back then, the central bank raised rates to their highest levels in more than 22 years.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury staggered, raising yields to 4.23% from Tuesday’s 4.22%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped two cents to $80.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $1.50 to $1,933.70 U.S. an ounce.