Loonie hovers around 77 cents U.S., stock markets make slight gains

On the positive side, a mix of consumer names and telecom stocks moved higher.

Several heavyweight financial stocks added to the downward move, with Toronto-Dominion Bank off 0.4 percent to C$52.17 and Manulife Financial Corp down 0.9 percent at C$21.08.

Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, primarily metals and mining, down 6%, while healthcare and industrials each sank 1.6%. The price of gold retreated from a 3-1/2-month high on gains for the United States dollar.

In New York, where markets were open on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 19.58 points at 17,112.28, threatening to snap a seven-day winning streak on the widely watched index.

Johnson & Johnson reported earnings that beat, but missed on revenue. It had been above 77 cents U.S. earlier in the morning after falling below that mark on Tuesday.

That was worse than the 5.5 percent decline in imports in August and more than the 15 percent drop that had been expected by analysts.

The index was dragged down in the midday trading after Valeant Pharmaceuticals global Inc., the biggest health care company by market value in Canada, said in a statement released Wednesday night that the company recently received subpoenas from US lawmakers investigating its patient assistance programs, drug distribution and pricing decisions. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. USA crude prices were down 1.7 percent to $45.84 a barrel, while Brent crude lost 1.0 percent to $48.65.

On the closing bell, the medical sector plunged 1.61 percent, leading the fall with Valeant diving 5.39 percent to 216.73 Canadian dollars (about 168.70 USA dollars) per share.