Bay Street Throwing NAFTA Tantrum -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks fell Wednesday despite higher commodity prices and a friendly merger that could define the marijuana sector.

Bay Street remained spooked by concerns about NAFTA and a break down in trade relations with the U.S. A strong loonie also put a damper on exporters.

The TSX Composite Index was down 73.34 points to 16,284.21.

Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO) revealed a profit for fourth quarter that retreated compared to the same period last year. Shares were flat.

Rival Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) has fired one of its conductor for the second time after she posted several sexy modelling photos on the social media. They canned Stephanie Katelnikoff, previously involved in a bad de-railing accident, after accusing her of violating the company's code of ethics.

Shares fell 2 percent.

Aurora (ACB.TO) and CanniMed (CMED.TO) ended a protracted takeover battle with a friendly $1.1B deal, but NewStrike was not part of the deal. Aurora shares fell on concerns it overpayed.

CanniMed walked away from NewStrike as part of its agreement with Aurora. It will pay a break fee of $9 mil because the deal fell through. CMED rose 11.7 percent.

March WTI oil climbed $1.14, or 1.8%, to settle at $65.61/bbl, the highest since December 2014.

The Energy Information Administration reported a draw of 1.1 million barrels for the week to January 19. It's the tenth consecutive drop in U.S. oil inventories.

However, gasoline inventories booked yet another weekly build at 3.1 million barrels.

Gold futures surged Wednesday to their highest in a year as the Trump Administration continued to express happiness with a weak U.S. dollar.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said a weaker greenback "is good for us as it related to trade and opportunities.

The buck dropped to its lowest in 3 years and could weaken further, according to analysts at IIF, who estimate that the U.S. dollar may be overvalued by up to 10%.

Feb. gold jumped $19.60, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,356.30/oz.