Markets stabilize

Bay and Wall streets were calmer Wednesday, a day after new Mideast tensions and a U.S. dock strike rattled investors. The S&P was flat, adding only two points, while the Nasdaq rose 0.24% and the Dow 0.12%. Key names included Caesars up 5.22%, Super Micro Computer 3.48% after a stock split, Salesforce 3.27%, Tesla -3.45% and Humana -11.91% after Medicare memberships slumped. Bitcoin slipped 0.87% to US$60,300 as the U.S. 10-year-yield edged up to 3.779%.

In contrast, the TSX retreated 0.2% to close below 24,000. Only tech and three other sectors rallied while staples and health care led the remaining sectors down. Major movers were Bank of Nova Scotia at -2.34%, Athabasca Oil -1.81%, Parex Resoures -2.42%, Energy Fuels 4.62% and First Majestic Silver 2.75%. Gold gave back US$4 to US$2,658 while WTI jumped 1.7% to US$71.