North American stocks retreated at the start of trading on Thursday morning, failing to maintain any momentum after Wednesday’s strong surge.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13 points or 0.1 per cent, to 12,032. The broader S&P 500 fell less than 1 point, to 1247. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 26 points or 0.2 per cent, to 12,178.
Pfizer Inc. rose 0.5 per cent, while Boeing Co. and Home Depot Inc. rose 0.4 per cent each. However, Alcoa Inc. fell 1.1 per cent and Microsoft Corp. fell 0.9 per cent. Financials were also weak, with Bank of America Corp. down 0.6 per cent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. down 0.9 per cent.
In Canada, investors gave the thumbs-down to the start of the quarterly reports from the Big Banks. Toronto-Dominion Bank fell 1.2 per cent after reporting net income of $1.6-billion or $1.69 a share. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce fell 0.6 per cent after reporting net income of $794-million or $1.90 a share.
Meanwhile, Gildan Activewear Inc. plunged 28.2 per cent after the clothing manufacturer reported quarterly income of $48.5-million or 40 cents a share, down from last year.
