A sign board displaying Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) stock information is seen in Toronto June 23, 2014.MARK BLINCH/Reuters
Stock markets fluctuated at the start of trading today, with the TSX giving up modest early gains to trade negatively by 10 a.m. (ET) alongside the major Wall Street indexes.
The TSX was down 68 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 14,507 and the S&P 500 was down nearly 3 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 1,932. The Dow was down just 14 points.
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.01 of a cent to 89.51 cents US.
Stock markets sold off Tuesday in the wake of a double-dose of weak economic signals. German industrial data raised concerns that Europe's biggest economy may not rebound as expected in the third quarter. Also, the International Monetary Fund trimmed global economic growth forecasts for 2014 and 2015, mostly because of Japan, Latin America and Europe.
Those concerns translated into questions about demand for crude, particularly after data showed rising American inventories. The American Petroleum Institute said U.S. oil inventories rose by 5.1 million barrels last week. Weekly stockpile data from the U.S. Energy Information Agency is expected later in the morning and analysts expect a rise of 1.9 million barrels.
On Wednesday, the November crude contract in New York fell $1.14 to US$87.71 a barrel after closing Tuesday at its lowest level since April 2013.
On the TSX, the energy sector fell 0.6 per cent.
Other resource sectors fared better as the gold sector rose 2.2 per cent while December gold gained $5.70 to US$1,218.10 an ounce. The base metals component rose 0.3 per cent as December copper edged a cent lower to US$3.02
Meantime, the start of third-quarter earnings data from U.S. corporations gets under way in earnest this week.
Earlier Wednesday, Costco Wholesale Corp. said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 13 per cent to US$697 million, or $1.58 a share, beating estimates of $1.52 a share.
Traders will take in results from resource giant Alcoa after the close.
In Canada, Jean Coutu Group (TSX:PJC.A) posted quarterly net income of $53.6 million or 28 cents per share, down from a year earlier when the Quebec-based pharmacy chain reported a $158.3-million gain from the sale of some of its stake in Rite-Aid, a U.S.-based company that Jean Coutu had been divesting in stages. Excluding the Rite-Aid gain, Jean Coutu's net income for the quarter was up from $49.9 million or 24 cents a year earlier. Revenue was up 3.15 per cent to $674.4 million and its shares slipped 11 cents to $24.30.
Meanwhile, markets also looked to the mid-afternoon release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting for hints about the timing of the central bank's next interest rate hike. Many analysts expect the Fed to move mid-2015 but a steady stream of positive U.S. data has persuaded some that it could hike even earlier. Adding to uncertainty about Fed intentions is economic weakness in many areas outside of the U.S.
Fed speculation has helped drive the U.S. dollar sharply higher in recent weeks, which has also helped drive commodities lower. But the greenback has also strengthened as the euro currency has fallen about 10 per cent against the U.S. dollar since mid-summer.