(MENAFN- Baystreet.ca) Equities in Canada's largest market fell short Thursday, as resource stocks fizzled, and gains by financial and communications failed to lift the markets up sufficiently.
The TSX lost 58.48 points, to conclude business Thursday at 16,731.49.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.08 cents to 76.18 cents U.S.
Gold and other resource stocks got roughed up Thursday, with Yamana Gold trailing Wednesday's close by 38 cents, or 4.7%, to $7.71, while Teranga Gold faded 55 cents, or 3.6%, to $14.62.
Among materials, Wheaton Precious Metals sagged $2.25, or 3.2%, to $67.53, while Dundee Precious Metals collapsed 27 cents, or 2.9%, to $9.15.
Tech stocks also were the worse for wear, with Shopify bruised $52.85, or 3.7%, to $1,381.52, while Sierra Wireless docked 38 cents, or 2.3%, to $16.21.
Among the gainers, Cineplex tallied 58 cents, or 6.5%, to $9.56, while Corus Entertainment took on three cents to $3.37.
Financials also had a good day, with Industrial Alliance climbing 99 cents, or 2%, to $49.53, while Fairfax Financial Holdings jumped $7.23, or 1.8%, to $416.16.
In the real-estate sector, Tricon Capital Group sailed higher 98 cents, or 9.9%, to $10.88, while Altus Group leaped $4.46, or 9.3%, to $52.60.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer, measured in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, rose by 666,500, or 4.9%, in June.
The agency goes on to say the numbers follows three consecutive months of declines -- March (-0.9 million), April (-1.9 million) and May (-0.5 million) -- and brought the total payroll employment change since February to a decrease of 2.7 million (-15.7%).
Moreover, the agency said Canada's current account deficit narrowed to $8.63 billion in the second quarter from a revised $13.22 billion deficit in the first quarter, on a lower trade deficit on both goods and services.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.09 points to 731.96.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, with gold retreating 1.9%, materials faltering 1.8%, and information technology issues slipping 0.9%.
The five gainers were led by communications, up 0.7%, financials, improving 0.6%, and real-estate, advancing 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose on Thursday after the Federal Reserve unveiled a new framework that could keep interest rates lower for a longer period of time.
The 30-stock index came off its highs of the day, but still grew 160.35 points to finish at 28,492.97. Earlier in the session, the average traded positive for 2020.
The S&P 500 continued its record-breaking binge, gaining 5.82 points over Wednesday's all-time peak to register at Thursday's close at 3,484.55.
The NASDAQ Composite reversed 39.72 points from Wednesday's all-time record close to finish at 11,625.34.
Bank stocks rose broadly. Citigroup gained 1.7%. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo were all up at least 1.9%.
Those bank gains were offset as Big Tech shares fell across the board. Facebook let go of 3.5% and Netflix dropped 3.9%. Amazon, Alphabet and Apple were all down more than 0.9%. Microsoft bucked the negative trend in tech, rising nearly 2.5%.
Investors also pored through fresh economic data to gauge the health of the economy. The U.S. Labor Department said Wednesday the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits for the first time totaled one million last week, in line with expectations. It marked the second consecutive week that weekly jobless claims tallied more than one million.
Meanwhile, second-quarter Gross Domestic Product was revised to a 31.7% decline, versus a 32.5% drop estimated. The initial reading on July 30 showed a 32.9% fall in economic activity. While the latest reading is slightly better, it still marks the largest quarterly plunge on record.
In a speech, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank formally agreed to a policy of 'average inflation targeting.' In other words, the central bank will let inflation run 'moderately' above its 2% goal for 'some time.'
The central bank has for years tried to keep inflation at 2%, a rate of price increase that policymakers consider both manageable and indicative of a healthy economy. But ever since the financial crisis, inflation in the U.S. has more often than not lagged the Fed's target.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury wavered, boosting yields to 0.74% from Wednesday's 0.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shed 41 cents to $42.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $15.30 to $1,937.70 U.S. an ounce.
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