September 29, 2016 - 11:04 AM EDT
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OPEC Excitement Fades, Markets Slide

Toronto edged higher as energy stocks added to sharp gains from the day before on a surprise output cut agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The S&P/TSX Composite gained 23.2 points, to open Thursday at 14,754.63, after a hefty gain Wednesday of more than 170 points.

The Canadian dollar removed 0.03 cents at 76.42 cents U.S.

Macquarie raised the target price on Blackberry to $8.50 from $7.00. BlackBerry shares slid six cents to $10.83.

Desjardins raised the target price on Saputo to $46.00, with a hold rating. Saputo shares slipped 24 cents to $45.42.

National Bank Financial raised the target price on Theratechnologies to $3.25 from $2.25. Shares in Theratechnologies acquired seven cents, or 2.5%, to $2.87.

OPEC agreed on modest output cuts on Wednesday, in the first such move since 2008, with Saudi Arabia softening its stance on arch-rival Iran amid mounting pressure from low oil prices.

On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported Thursday that average weekly earnings stayed pretty still in July at $955.00, down 0.2% from June, and up 0.1% from July 2015.

ON BAY STREET

The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.11 points at 802.58

The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers, the former group led by energy, up 1.1%, financials, eking up 0.2%, and telecoms, inching up 0.1%.

The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1%, while industrials and real-estate each skidded 0.2%.

ON WALL STREET

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Thursday as investors digested a slew of economic data as well as a deal from OPEC to cut production.

The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 2.7 points to 18,336.54

The S&P 500 shed 1.69 points to 2,169.68,

The NASDAQ Composite moved lower 16.4 points to 5,302.15

In corporate news, PepsiCo shares rose about 2% before the bell, but after the soda and snacks giant posted better-than-expected quarterly results. ConAgra and Accenture shares also rose following their quarterly results releases. After the bell, Costco is scheduled to post results.

In economic news, the third — and final — read on second-quarter gross domestic product showed the U.S. economy grew slightly faster than previously estimated. The Commerce Department said GDP rose at an annualized rate of 1.4% in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims rose 3,000 to 254,000, slightly less than expected. The four-week moving average of new claims, which smooths out volatility, fell 2,250 to 256,000.

Washington also reported that after-tax corporate profits fell at a 0.6% rate in the second quarter, a smaller drop than initially estimated. With profits declining, an alternative measure of growth, gross domestic income, or GDI, dropped at a 0.2% rate in the second quarter. GDI measures the economy's performance from the income side.

Pending home sales data for August are also due out this morning.

OPEC, the 14-country oil cartel, reached a deal to cut production starting in November.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury lowered, raising yields to 1.58% from Wednesday's 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices added nine cents to $47.14 U.S. a barrel

Gold prices dropped 80 cents at $1,322.90 U.S. an ounce.


Source: Baystreet US Market Commentary (September 29, 2016 - 11:04 AM EDT)

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