Canada’s main stock index reversed from early gains to trade lower on Thursday, as easing metal prices dragged material shares, while hotter-than-expected U.S. business activity data weighed on investor sentiment.
The TSX backtracked 31.68 points to open Thursday at 22,315.08.
The Canadian dollar eked ahead 0.04 cents at 73.09 cents U.S.
Shares in Maple Leaf Foods added 13 cents to $23.32 on plans to close its Brantford plant and consolidate production into other facilities, pushing the broader consumer staples index higher.
Statistics Canada said its new housing price rose by 0.2% monthly in April on the strength of increases in large urban centres such as Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. Overall, added StatsCan, prices increased in five of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed, were unchanged in 15 CMAs and declined in seven.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 3.07 points to 608.25.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour, with health-care dawdling 1%, while utilities and communications were each off 0.8%.
The three gainers proved to be energy, surging 0.8%, while consumer staples up 0.4%, and information technology marginally better, 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite rose to a new record Thursday on better-than-expected quarterly results from Nvidia. The broader market, however, struggled to stay in positive territory.
The Dow Jones Industrials gave up 237.01 points to move into Thursday afternoon at 39,434.03. Intel and Boeing both dropped more than 2%, dragging the 30-stock index lower.
The S&P 500 gained 46.17 points to 5,323.18, after hitting a record high earlier during the session.
The NASDAQ leaped 145.23 points to 16,947.27.
Chipmaker and artificial intelligence darling Nvidia surged 8.5%, sending shares above $1,000, after posting stronger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results and announcing a 10-for-1 stock split.
Fiscal second-quarter revenue guidance of about $28 billion also beat an LSEG consensus forecast of $26.61 billion — a sign the company doesn’t see its momentum slowing. For the bottom line, analysts expect a profit of $5.95 per share.
Nvidia’s results have been a focal point for Wall Street, as traders hoped for signs that the excitement around AI is not waning. With its $2.3 trillion market cap, Nvidia also has considerable sway over the broad S&P 500.
Boeing’s share price plummeted roughly 6% in midday trading Thursday after CFO Brian West said he expects negative free cash flow and that the company’s aircraft deliveries won’t recover in the second quarter from the first. Boeing is dealing with several production challenges with its best-selling planes.
On the economic side, new homes sold at a much slower than expected pace in April, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Sales of new single-family homes totaled 634,000 for the month, a 4.7% drop from March and less than the Dow Jones estimate for 677,000.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury slipped, raising yields to 4.49% from Wednesday’s 4.43%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shed 31 cents to $77.26 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $45.70 to $2,347.20.