(MENAFN- Baystreet.ca) Equities in Canada's largest centre fell below breakeven early Wednesday, and did not display enough gumption to make it all the way back.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index faded 25.43 points to end Wednesday at 15,208.33
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.06 cents to 74.93 cents U.S.
Consumer discretionary stocks led gainers, as Hudson's Bay Company pointed up 12 cents, or 1.5%, to $7.91.
Next came tech stocks, in which BlackBerry took on 14 cents, or 1.4%, to $10.31, and Constellation Software, strengthening $24.97, or 2.7%, to $952.96.
Real-estate issues were also prosperous, as Colliers International Group gained 72 cents to $79.80.
Energy stocks got bruised, however, as Suncor Energy lost 62 cents, or 1.5%, to $41.50, and Imperial Oil shed nine cents to $36.46.
In financial stocks, Toronto-Dominion dropped 22 cents to $72.19, while Royal Bank slipped $1.45, or 1.5%, to $98.55.
In the health-care field, Canopy Growth drooped 25 cents to $58.00, while Aurora Cannabis docked two cents to $8.26.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said retail sales decreased 0.9% to $50.4 billion in November on lower sales at gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers. Excluding these two sub-sectors, retail sales increased 0.2%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange handed back 0.38 points Wednesday to 592.70
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups remained positive on the day, led by consumer discretionary stocks, better by 1.8%, while information technology improved 0.9%, and real-estate was 0.3% more solid.
The five laggards were weighed most by energy, trading down 1.3%, financials, sliding 0.5%, and health-care 0.4% sicker.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Wednesday on the back of strong quarterly earnings from companies like IBM, United Technologies and Procter & Gamble.
The 30-stock index restored 168.8 points to conclude the session at 24,573.28,
The S&P 500 eked up 5.8 points to 2,638.70, led by a 1.2% jump in the consumer staples sector.
The NASDAQ Composite regained 5.41 points to 7,025.77
Dow members United Technologies and Procter & Gamble both rose more than 4.8% after reporting better-than-expected earnings. IBM, another Dow component, jumped 8.5% in its best session since Oct. 18, 2017.
More than 14% of S&P 500 companies have released their calendar fourth-quarter results so far. Of those companies, 72.9% have topped analyst estimates. However, only 58.7% of those companies have beaten sales forecasts.
Overall, profits for the companies that have reported have grown by 13.2%, slightly above expectations. However, that would be the slowest pace of earnings growth since the fourth quarter of 2017, when S&P 500 profits expanded by 15.5%.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury faded, raising yields back to Tuesday's 2.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave up 41 cents to $52.60 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $1.10 to $1,282.30 U.S. an ounce.
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