Disappointing end to the day on Bay Street as the market gave up morning gains to close down. The TSX finished at 15,508 a loss of 15 points. Losses in the healthcare and consumer sectors outpaced mining and energy gains.
Meanwhile the Dow Jones got back on track after back-to-back down days. Technology and industrials pushed it up 164 points to 24,962.
It wasn’t as merry a Christmas as it could have been for Canada’s retailers. Stats Canada is reporting sales were down by 0.8 per cent compared to November.
Bad news for people looking to retire debt-free. A new survey from Sun Life Financial shows lots of Canadians will never achieve that goal. The poll of 2900 people, done by Ipsos, showed that 25 per cent of those in their golden years still owe money. Mortgages, cars, and credit cards are the most common debts.
And in afterhours trading as of presstime oil is up 98 cents to $62.66 U.S. per barrel, gold is up a buck to $1330 U.S. an ounce, and the loonie is still treading water, down a shade to 78.65 cents U.S.