US benchmarks mixed into close
Economic advisor Gary Cohn quits; trade war fears
TSX down over 57 pts
US stocks are mixed into the close with the Dow Jones down over 58 points at 24,825 amid the heightening trade rhetoric out of President Trump's White House.
The S&P 500 is near flat at 2,728.
The Nasdaq is up around 26 at 7,398.
In Toronto, the TSX is down over 57 points at 15,487.
US crude is off over 2% at the time of writing, at US$61.29 a share.
German bank Berenberg said: "Markets do not like uncertainties and misguided economic policies.
"President Trump’s proposal to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum products is clearly bad economics, and, fueled in part by some of President Trump’s off-the-cuff remarks, uncertainties and risks have been elevated by media headlines that speculate on the possibility of “trade wars” and now the resignation of Gary Cohn, Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC)."
MID-SESSION
US stocks on Wall Street were tanking at midsession as trade war fears swirled and the resignation of Gary Cohn was being digested.
Elsewhere, traders were mulling data that showed the US trade deficit climbed 5% in January and hit a nearly 10-year high, continuing a steady rise since President Trump took over.
Chart: US trade deficit worst since 2008 - pic.twitter.com/hfp5XzUowX
— (((The Daily Shot))) (@SoberLook) 7 March 2018
Dow Jones shed over 308 points at 24,575, while the Nasdaq shed 33 points at 7,339.
The S&P 500 shed over 21 points at 2,706.
In Toronto, the TSX shed 54 at 15,490.
Precious metal gold lost some upward momentum, and Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) dipped seven cents to C$15.21 each.
Energy issues lost ground, as Suncor Energy Inc (TSE:SU) shares fell 0.14% to C$41.34.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada did as expected Wednesday, maintaining its trendsetting rate at 1.25%.
In US stocks, Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) was a big gainer, up over 15% to US$ 135.57 each.
Fourth quarter underlying earnings per share were negative at 9 US cents but that was better than the company's guidance range of a loss of 10 to 14 US cents and the market consensus forecast of a loss of 12 US cents.
12:30pm: READ THE LONDON CLOSE HERE
As expected, US stocks started lower, with the Dow Jones down over 182 points at 24,704.
The broader-based S&P 500 index shed almost 18 points at 2,710, while the m tech heavy Nasdaq index lost over 35 at 7,336.
US crude, or West Texas Intermediate, shed 0.56% to stand at US$62.26 a barrel.
In Toronto, the TSX is down eight points to stand at 15,537.
In stocks, a notable loser in New York was Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR), which shed over 15% to US$88.52 each.
The company's shares plunged in pre-market trade after its fourth quarter results failed to impress the market.
In a statement, the discount retailer said net income for the quarter to February 3 more than tripled to US$1.04bn or US$4.37 a share, from US$321.8mln or US$1.36 a share, in the same period a year ago, as the recent US tax reform included a US$562mln non-cash benefit.
PREVIEW
US futures pointed lower on Wednesday, with Dow futures down 251 points, as investors nervously await the New York reaction to the resignation of President Trump's key economic advisor, Gary Cohn.
It comes after a flat close on Tuesday before the news of Cohn’s resignation broke, with the adviser’s departure seen as being linked to his opposition to Donald Trump’s planned trade tariffs.
David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB.com said: “Cohn was seen as one of Wall Street’s guys and in his role as adviser to the president he was widely viewed as having the markets back, meaning that his decision to step down could lead to further declines.
“Global risk sentiment remains not far from its most fragile levels in over a year and should we get another wave of selling this afternoon when the US enters then a retest of the recent lows becomes increasingly likely.”
Elsewhere, new data showed that US employers added 235,000 jobs in February, according to the ADP private payrolls report.
Economists were expecting payrolls to rise by 200,000. The figure for January was revised up to 244,000 from the initially reported 234,000.
February was the fourth month in a row that private payrolls reached at least 200,000.
The report is always seen as a pre-cursor to Friday's all-important US non-farm payrolls report, which is expected to reveal 205,000 jobs were added to the economy in February.