Canadian stocks rose in early trading Wednesday despite news that the country's economy stalled in the April and private-sector job creation in the U.S. fell short of expectations this month.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was ahead 55.85 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 11,319.68 in early trading.
The Canadian dollar, which lost 1.78 cents U.S. on Monday, quickly shed early gains and fell 33 basis points to 94.43 cents U.S. after Statistics Canada reported that growth in the Canadian economy fell flat in April, tempering the outlook for interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada in the coming months.
The federal agency blamed the decline in economic growth on retail trade, which dropped 1.7 per cent in April as demand dropped sharply for items such as automobiles and clothing.
Analysts had expected 0.2 per cent growth in GDP for April.
Crude oil for August delivery fell 16 cents to $75.78 U.S. a barrel, while gold for August delivery slipped $4.40 to $1,238.10 U.S. an ounce.
After posting sharp declines on Tuesday on news that China's economic growth was slowing, global markets were dealt another dose of weak economic data from the U.S., where U.S. private employers added 13,000 jobs in June, compared with a revised gain of 57,000 in May, according to a report from ADP Employer Services. Economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 60,000 jobs for June.
"Equity and commodity markets have been trying to stabilize this morning from yesterday's big sell-off. Economic news has been mixed," said CMC Markets analyst Colin Cieszynski said Wednesday.
"The U.S. ADP payrolls report was mildly disappointing as it indicated that U.S. job growth remains sluggish. This was offset by a number of positive developments in other areas. This morning, the ECB issued 132 billion euros in three-month loans at one per cent to 171 banks, much less than the 250 billion euros that had been expected.
"This news, along with press reports that some German banks have passed their stress tests and rumours that Greek banks may follow the lead of Spanish banks and merge to strengthen the country's banking system all suggest that the European banking system may be in better shape than had been feared."
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 18.21 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 9,852.09 early Wednesday, while the Nasdaq edged up 0.96 point, or 0.04 per cent, to 2,136.14.
In Europe, London's FTSE was up 1.81 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 4,916.03, while the Paris CAC slipped 8.5 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 3,424,49 and Frankfurt, Germany's DAX edged up 1.51 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 5,953.54.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed down 188.03 points, or 1.96 per cent, to 9,382.64, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 119.91, or 0.59 per cent, to 20,128.99
On Tuesday, the TSX dropped 343.18 points, or 2.96 per cent, to 11,263.83, while the Venture exchange was 41.57 points lower, or 2.86 per cent, at 1,409.74. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 268.22 points, or 2.65 per cent, to 9,870.30, while the Nasdaq declined by 85.47 points, or 3.85 per cent, to 2,135.18.
