(File photo.)

Coming off two straight sessions of record highs, Canada’s main stock index pulled back on Wednesday as a slowdown in the precious‑metals rally weighed on material stocks and investors monitored new developments in US–Venezuela relations.

Crude oil prices also fell after President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela’s interim leadership plans to transfer up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, raising worries about increased supply. Meanwhile, oil refiners such as Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:MPC) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO) saw a bump in their share price after reports indicated that Venezuelan oil sales to the US will continue indefinitely and that sanctions are expected to be eased.

TSX32,135.49-271.53TSX
TSXV1,036.18+2.24TSXV
CSE176.66+2.82CSE
DJIA48,996.08-466.00DJIA
NASDAQ23,584.27+37.10NASDAQ
S&P 5006,920.93-23.89S&P 500

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.16 cents US compared to 72.36 cents US on Tuesday.

US crude futures traded $0.80 lower at US$56.33 a barrel, and the Brent contract lost $0.37 to US$60.33 a barrel.

The price of gold was down US$33.35 to US$4,452.47.

In world markets, the Nikkei was down 556.10 points to ¥51,961.98, the Hang Seng was down 251.50 points to HK$26,458.95, the FTSE was down 74.52 points to ₤10,048.21, but the DAX was up 230.06 points to €25,122.26.


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