Daily Wrap-up: Slump – TSX falls as Wall Street leads decline

Slump – TSX falls as Wall Street leads decline... Corus entertainment buys Shaw Media... Loonie down to 59 cents? This expert thinks so... Valeant stocks lower despite big plans...

Steve Randall
Slump – TSX falls as Wall Street leads decline
Poor corporate results and volatile oil prices weighed on Wall Street Wednesday and the weak New York exchange dragged the TSX lower too.

The drop in equities was joined by a fall in the value of the Canadian dollar, ending the day below 70 cents.

Oil prices were mixed as Brent Crude lost more than 2 per cent and ended the session below West Texas Intermediate.

Asian indexes closed mixed earlier in the day as oil prices and Chinese trade figures were in focus. Tokyo was the strongest performer while Shanghai ended lower.

European markets closed mixed.
 
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 203.5 (1.64 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed down 364.8 (2.21 per cent)
Oil is trending mixed (Brent down at $30.40, WTI $30.82 at 4.05pm)
Gold is trending higher (1094.70 at 4.05pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.6966
 
Corus entertainment buys Shaw Media
Corus Entertainment is to acquire the content business of Shaw Communications in a $2.65 million deal subject to regulatory approval. The transaction would see Shaw Media’s TV channels join the media properties of Corus while Shaw would concentrate on wireless and mobile. Both companies are controlled by the Shaw family.
 
Loonie down to 59 cents? This expert thinks so
The Canadian dollar could slip below 60 cents according to David Doyle of Macquarie Group. The forecaster warned that as oil continues its slide we could see the loonie down to 59 cents. Doyle says that Canada’s economy is more dependent on oil than it was in the 90s, the last time the dollar was so weak against the greenback.
 
Valeant stocks lower despite big plans
Valeant Pharmaceuticals has a plan to grow revenues which includes sales of its drugs through a deal with Walgreens. However, the markets did not respond optimistically to a presentation at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in California and Valeant stocks dipped 1.9 per cent. There was no update on the health of the company’s CEO Mike Pearson.

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