Canada’s stock exchange was unable to gain traction today, with five of 11 sectors sinking into the red.
The TSX lost 60 points, weighted by the heavyweight energy sector that slipped 1.4 percent.
Among the drags: Baytex Energy which was down 3.9 percent, Canadian Natural Resources, off by 3.2 percent, and Suncor, which dropped 2.1 percent.
Energy stocks fell despite a rally in oil prices after yesterday’s losses. Oil rose 96 cents to $51.96 US a barrel due to a softer U.S. dollar and a short-term shutdown of production in Libya.
Rises in the industrials, tech, and health care sectors helped keep the TSX from sinking even deeper into negative territory.
Cannabis producers Aurora Cannabis and Aphria were the most actively traded companies on the index and both floated into the green, rising 3.3 and 8.9 percent, respectively.
It was also a good day for industrial giant Bombardier, which jumped 3.8 percent.
In New York, the Dow sunk 53 points on a wild trading day, as investors weighed a public spat over border security with progress in the U.S./China trade war.
The index fell after President Donald Trump threatened a government shutdown if the Democrats don’t agree with his administration’s plan to build a wall bordering the U.S. and Mexico.
“I’d like not to see a government closing, a shutdown… but border security is extremely important,” Trump said in a news conference.
Meanwhile, China appears to be easing off of its trade-war tariffs on imported U.S.-made cars.
Bloomberg reported that China is reviewing cutting its tariff on cars made in America from 40 percent to 15 percent, a key concession between the economic superpowers as their trade talks continue in Argentina.
It was an overall choppy day of trading on Wall Street, with a rally among most tech stocks offset by losses in the financials sector.
The Nasdaq managed to stay above the flat line, moving up 11 points on gains by Micron, Microsoft Alphabet, Tesla, and Booking Holdings.
Gold lost $1.00 to $1,243 an ounce while the loonie was flat, inching up 2/100ths of a cent to $0.7466 US.
