Equities in Canada's largest centre fell to a two-week low on Friday in a broad selloff t

Stocks at 2-Wk. Low

Equities in Canada's largest centre fell to a two-week low on Friday in a broad selloff that included losses for its heavyweight energy and financial services groups as oil prices fell.

The S&P/TSX Composite plummeted 153.25 points, or 1%, to open Friday at 15,627.95, after flirting with all-time highs most of a short week.

The Canadian dollar edged higher 0.05 cents at 76.37 cents U.S.

Royal Bank of Canada reported a 24% rise in first-quarter net income to more than $3 billion, beating analysts' expectations.

RBC shares fell 78 cents to $97.48.

MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates said it agreed to buy U.S.-based satellite imagery provider DigitalGlobe Inc for about $3.10 billion to strengthen its position in the U.S. market.

MDA shares went south $3.40, or 4.9%, to $65.60.

Magna International Inc reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit as costs rose.

Magna shares deferred $3.20, or 5.4%, to $56.00.

Canaccord Genuity cut the price target on Altus Group to $36.00 from $38.00, with a buy rating. Altus shares shuttled lower $2.83, or 8.6%, to $30.25.

RBC raised the target price on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to $119 from $118. CIBC shares lost 48 cents to $118.92.

On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that January's consumer price index rose 2.1% on a year-over-year basis in January, following hiking 1.5% in December. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, inflation moved up 0.7% in January, after increasing 0.4% in December.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.53 points to 839.98

All but one of the 12 subgroups were lower, consumer discretionaries falling 1.7%, energy lagging 1.6%, and health-care failing 1.3%.

The lone gainer was in gold, up 0.2%.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. equities opened lower Friday, taking a breath from their most recent run at record levels.

The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 26.76 points from Thursday's 10th-straight all-time high to 20,783.56, with Goldman Sachs sinking the most.

The S&P 500 dipped 5.7 points to 2,358.10, with financials lagging

The NASDAQ slid 16.84 points to 5,818.67.

The Dow and S&P 500 entered Friday's session on track to post weekly gains, while the NASDAQ was marginally negative week to date.

Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained strength, dropping yields to 2.35% from Thursday's 2.38%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices skidded 43 cents to $54.02 U.S. a barrel

Gold prices gained $1.70 to $1,253.10 U.S. an ounce.

US stocks dip as banks and energy companies fall

Marley Jay, The Associated Press, at 14:02 on February 24, 2017

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NEW YORK - U.S. stocks are losing ground Friday as banks fall and energy companies continue to slide. The Dow Jones industrial average is on track to break a 10-day winning streak. The losses are modest, but there's far more selling than buying on Wall Street.

Investors are looking for safer places to put their money, as they've done over the last few days. Bond prices are rising and yields are dropping. That's sending interest rates lower, which hurts banks. High-dividend stocks are rising.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 60 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 20,749 as of 2:50 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 2,358. The Nasdaq composite sank 6 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 5,829. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller companies, slid 2 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 1,392. Major indexes are mixed this week but remain close to all-time highs.

BONDS: Bond prices sank again. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slid to 2.32 per cent from 2.39 per cent. Lower bond yields push interest rates lower, which means banks will make less money on mortgages and other loans. Wells Fargo slipped $1.10, or 1.9 per cent, to $57.39 and Bank of America fell 49 cents, or 2 per cent, to $24.09. Investment banks and insurers traded lower as well.

With yields down, investors bought utility stocks and phone company stocks, which pay large dividends similar to bonds. Exelon gained $1.02, or 2.8 per cent, to $37 and NextEra Energy rose $2.44, or 1.9 per cent, to $130.63.

HPE HURTING: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which sells data-centre hardware and other commercial tech gear to big organizations, slumped after it cut its profit estimate for the year. Its business was hurt by the strong dollar, expenses, and other problems that it said will be "near-term." HP Enterprise's quarterly sales dropped 10 per cent and weren't as strong as analysts hoped. Its stock skidded $1.71, or 6.9 per cent, to $22.96.

Chipmakers and other technology companies also lost ground.

METAL GAINS: Gold and silver continued to rise. Gold, which jumped 1.5 per cent a day earlier, picked up 0.6 per cent to $1,258.30 an ounce. The metal is trading at its highest price since just after the presidential election, although it's down sharply from this summer. Silver added 1.2 per cent to $18.34 an ounce and copper picked up 1.4 per cent to $2.70 a pound after a steep loss the previous day. That helped mining companies trade higher.

PENNEY POUNDED: Department store operator J.C. Penney said it will close 130 to 140 stores and two distribution centres in the next few months. That's about 14 per cent of its stores. Penney also said it will offer voluntary early retirement plans to about 6,000 employees. The company is trying to cut costs as it competes with online retailers. Its stock gave up 31 cents, or 4.5 per cent, to $6.55.

Competitor Nordstrom jumped after it disclosed a better-than-expected quarterly profit with help from strong sales online and at Nordstrom Rack. Its shares gained $2.952, or 6.7 per cent, to $46.89. Kohl's also rose $2.24, or 5.5 per cent, to $43.15. The stock dipped Thursday after investors weren't thrilled by the company's fourth-quarter report.

PRISON STOCKS: For-profit prison operator Geo Group rose $1.40, or 3 per cent, to $48.77 and CoreCivic added 75 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $34.75. Late Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed the federal Bureau of Prisons to continue doing business with private prison operators. That reversed an Obama administration policy that sent the stocks tumbling when it was announced in August.

The companies operate detention facilities used by Immigration and Customs enforcement as well as prisons and they get a lot of their revenue from contracts with the federal government. Since Donald Trump was elected president in November their stocks have soared, as investors expected the Obama-era policy would be reversed and that Trump's policies toward immigration and criminal justice would strengthen their business. CoreCivic has climbed 140 per cent since the election and Geo Group has doubled in value.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 46 cents to $53.99 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for pricing international oils, fell 59 cents, or 1 per cent, to $55.99 a barrel in London. Energy companies continued to trade lower. They've fallen sharply over the last month. The S&P 500 energy company index is down 7 per cent this year while the broader S&P 500 is up more than 5 per cent.

OTHER ENERGY TRADING: Wholesale gasoline declined 1 cent to $1.51 a gallon. Heating oil fell 2 cents to $1.64 a gallon. Natural gas picked up 1 cent to $2.63 per 1,000 cubic feet.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slid to 112.12 yen from 112.75 yen. The euro fell to $1.0561 from $1.0574.

OVERSEAS: The DAX in Germany fell 1.2 per cent and France's CAC 40 slumped 0.9 per cent. In Britain the FTSE 100 shed 0.4 per cent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.5 per cent and South Korea's Kospi fell 0.6 per cent. The Hang Seng of Hong Kong fell 0.5 per cent.

Brexit - UK Funds have frozen trading combined value 20 Billion

BNN’s Daily Chase: U.K. property funds hit with investors’ Brexit fears
The chase by Noah Zivitz:

U.K. property fund suspensions rekindles crisis-era liquidity fears

If there’s a sign of fear stemming from the Brexit vote, it’s the flood of redemption requests hitting U.K. property funds. At least seven of those funds with more than $20 billion in combined assets have frozen trading in the wake of the United Kingdom’s vote to separate from the European Union. There are Canadian connections: one of the funds is operated by a unit of Great-West Lifeco – and, separately, a fund run by BMO shaved its valuation.

A conversation with Canada’s top bank regulator

Jeremy Rudin, Superintendent of Financial Institutions, will speak to BNN on The Close at 4:30 p.m. ET today. We'll discuss OSFI's strategy to make sure Canada's banking system is ready to absorb shocks -- be they from Brexit, a housing downturn, fallout from the oil crash, or who knows what else.

Seven Generation’s $1.3-billion ‘counter-cyclical’ takeover

The motives in yesterday afternoon's big Montney deal seem clear. Seven Generations views the $1.3-billion purchase as an opportunity to consolidate and derive "operational and investment synergies," while Paramount Resources cleans up its balance sheet by offloading $584 million in debt and retains some skin in the game by picking up 33.5 million VII shares. BNN will analyze this and weigh whether other dance partners will emerge with a similar deal strategy. Seven Generations, it should be pointed out, could very well be Canada’s most-loved energy stock: Fifteen buys, no holds, no sells. Its stock has soared 60.4 per cent in the last year, compared with a 3.6 per cent drop for the TSX energy group.

Canada Post pushes back lockout threat

The union representing some 50,000 postal workers says it's rejecting a proposal to undergo binding arbitration in its labour dispute with Canada Post. This comes after Canada Post announced it will push back the 72-hour lockout deadline to Monday at 12:01 a.m. ET. There’s no guarantee of a quick resolution: Canada Post noted last night that the two sides “remain far apart on key issues” and the union filed a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board, alleging Canada Post hasn’t demonstrated good faith. Even if a deal is struck immediately, how quickly will customers who deserted Canada Post return?

B.C. to unlock some real estate data

Who knows what the details will be, but British Columbia Finance Minister Mike de Jong is holding a news conference today to “release data related to real estate transactions.” What will de Jong have to say, today at 1:30 p.m. ET? It’s worth noting that on Monday, he vowed to release specific data on foreign buyers “very soon.”

Blaming regulations for holding back housing supply

The Fraser Institute says abundant regulations are limiting the supply of new homes in Canada and driving up prices in the process. According to the think tank, long wait times to get projects approved "are particularly detrimental." BNN will run through the report's findings and how they should factor into ongoing talks about taming Canada's hottest markets.

Tallying the cost of the Alberta wildfires

The Insurance Bureau of Canada will provide the first estimate of total insured damage caused by the Alberta wildfires at 12:00 p.m. ET.