Canada’s main stock index dipped on Thursday after shares of Canadian discount store chain Dollarama Inc. plunged after posting disappointing quarterly results and weighed on the consumer discretionary sector.
Dollarama’s 18.7-per-cent drop was the biggest drag on the TSX and pushed the consumer discretionary index down 2.2 per cent.
At 11:30 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 45.95 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 16,003.07.
Also weighing on the index was the energy sector’s 0.6-per-cent drop as oil prices slipped.
However, six of the index’s 11 major sectors were trading higher, led by the material sector’s 0.2-per-cent gain.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX included Methanex Corp, which jumped 4.2 per cent, followed by New Gold Inc, which rose 2.4 per cent.
Among the biggest decliners included marijuana producers with Aphria Inc. down 7.5 per cent, Aurora Cannabis Inc. falling 3.7 per cent and Canopy Growth Corp. losing 3 per cent.
Empire Company Ltd. was down 4.1 per cent after posting its quarterly results, and DHX Media Ltd. dropped 25.4 per cent to an record low on a weak outlook.
A rise in Apple led a rebound in technology shares and boosted all three major U.S. stock indexes on Thursday, while trade worries eased after China said it was open to fresh talks with the United States.
The bluechip Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its highest since Feb. 1 and is about 2 per cent shy of its all-time high hit on Jan. 26. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had already moved past their January peaks to record highs in prior weeks.
The technology sector climbed 1.11 per cent on the day, the most among the 11 major S&P sectors, boosted by Apple’s 2.5-per-cent jump.
Apple, which has said tariffs could hit a “wide range” of its products, fell 1.2 per cent on Wednesday when it unveiled its largest-ever iPhone, but made only small, widely expected changes to its line-up.
“It is a risk-on environment today and if risk is truly going to be on, then technology is definitely going to lead,” said Michael Antonelli, managing director, institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
The Trump administration on Wednesday invited Beijing to restart trade talks, even as Washington prepared to slap tariffs on $200-billion worth of Chinese goods. The timing of the talks remains unclear and President Donald Trump said there is no pressure to make a deal.
Still, the trade-sensitive industrial sector rose 0.39 per cent. Caterpillar was up 0.7 per cent and Boeing rose 0.8 per cent.
U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected in August and underlying inflation pressures also appeared to be slowing, a report from the U.S. Labor Department showed.
“Tame inflation data is a net positive for markets and this shouldn’t change the Federal Reserve’s decision for two further rate hikes this year,” Antonelli added.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 100.78 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 26,099.70, the S&P 500 was up 10.84 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 2,899.76 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 58.01 points, or 0.73 per cent, at 8,012.24.
Three S&P sectors were trading lower, with energy stocks down 0.39 per cent as oil prices slipped from near four-month highs.
Qualcomm rose 3.9 per cent after the chipmaker said it would buy back about $16-billion of its stock.
Chipmakers bounced back from a slide on Wednesday, with the Philadelphia semiconductor index up 1.6 per cent.
Kroger slid 9.5 per cent, the most on the S&P, after the supermarket chain’s same-store sales missed estimates as customers were put off by changes in how it stocked merchandise.
Reuters