Canadian shares seesawed between gains and losses ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy statement. The benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) was little changed at 14,750.33 at 12:43 p.m. in Toronto. Six out of ten share groups were in negative territory.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, inched up 0.1 percent as prices of oil, Canada’s largest export, turned negative.
Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, tacked on 0.1 percent to C$34.51. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, was flat at C$55.64.
Calfrac Well Services (TSE: CFW), which provides drilling services for oil and natural-gas producers, fell 1.3 percent to C$7.75. The oilfield-services company halved its quarterly dividend to 6.25 Canadian cents per share.
Brent futures fell 57 cents to $63.13 a barrel. Front month U.S. crude futures were down 63 cents at $59.34 per barrel.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, slid 0.3 percent as gold saw modest losses. Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, slipped 0.5 percent to C$20.08. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the second-largest, retreated 0.6 percent to C$13.69.
Gold for August delivery on Comex fell 0.3 percent to $1,178 an ounce, while July silver added 0.2 percent to $15.995 an ounce.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, ticked up 0.1 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index,
Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), the company with the highest weighting in the index, was flat at C$78.52. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, slipped 0.2 percent to C$54.23.
Bombardier (TSE:BBD.B) skidded 0.4 percent to C$2.44 as the world's third-biggest aircraft maker and Lockheed Martin Corp. are partnering to bid on a Pentagon surveillance planes contract.
David’s Tea (NASDAQ:DTEA) tumbled 20.5 percent to $23.19 after the tea retailer posted a loss in its fiscal first quarter, shortly after completing its initial public offering. Even as sales increased, the Montreal-based beverage chain’s adjusted earnings fell 21 percent. The company posted a loss of C$93.2 million.
Horizon North Logistics (TSE:HNL) fell 2.2 percent to C$3.83. The resource development company is selling 13.35 million shares at a price of C$3.75 each, for roughly C$50.1 million. It plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt.
EnerCare (TSE:ECI) slipped 0.3 percent to C$13.80 after agreeing to buy Triacta Power Technologies Inc. for C$7.5 million. The water heater, furnace and air conditioner provider will use cash for the purchase.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) rose 0.2 percent to 680.41 at 12:25 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news, Statistics Canada data released today showed that Canadian wholesale trade jumped by 1.9 percent in April from March, far more than the 0.3 percent forecast, erasing some of the declines early in the year.
In the U.S. market, shares moved modestly higher today as investors focused on the coming policy statement from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) was little changed at 2,096.19 at 11:42 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) rose less than 0.1 percent to 17,909.31, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) rose 0.1 percent to 5,058.50. Most followed shares included Synergy Pharma, Allergan, Kythera, Celgene, Adobe, Qihoo 360, Starbucks, Bob Evans, T-Mobile US, Energen, and FedEx.