Stocks in Canada’s biggest market opened slightly lower on Tuesday as lower gold prices weighed on shares of precious metal miners.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gave back some of its gains, and forfeited 20.38 points to start Tuesday’s session at 16,065.23
The Canadian dollar tumbled 0.69 cents to 77.42 cents U.S.
Gold stocks trailed Friday’s close, though, as Barrick Gold fell 34 cents, or 2%, to $16.91, and Kinross Gold was off nine cents, or 1.9%, at $4.69.
Among materials, Agnico Eagle Mines lost 77 cents, or 1.3%, to $56.62, and First Quantum Minerals ditched 32 cents, or 1.5%, to $20.50.
In telecoms, BCE lost 9.5 cents to $53.90, while TELUS Corporation fell 27 cents to $45.35.
Health-care stocks gained, however, with Canopy Growth took on five cents, to $32.44, while Cipher Pharmaceutical inched up four cents, or 1.6%, to $3.50
On the economic front, the Canadian Real Estate Association announced national home sales fell 2.9% from March to April. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was down 13.9% from April 2017.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 4.88 points to 785.43
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative as the day began, with gold subsiding 1.7%, materials squelching 1.2%, and telecoms off 0.5%
The four gainers were led by health-care, 1.5% stronger, industrials, notching but 0.1%, and financials, inching 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell Tuesday morning after Home Depot reported quarterly sales that fell short of Wall Street's expectations and interest rates breached new highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average capsized 189.56 points to 24,709.85, led lower by Home Depot and Boeing.
The S&P 500 fell 22.12 points to 2,708.01, after market open amid losses in information technology and consumer discretionary stocks.
The NASDAQ dropped 79.58 points to 7,331.73, as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet all fell more than 1%.
The slip in U.S. equities came after Home Depot reported first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations, but missed estimates on the top line thanks to what the company categorized as a "slow start" to spring sales.
Spring is an especially important season for the home improvement retailer as shoppers traditionally stock up on gardening supplies and renovation materials. Customer transactions, however, fell 1.3% during the quarter. Shares fell 1.6% in early trading.
Stocks also slipped after the Commerce Department reported retail sales increased 0.3% in April, down from a 0.8% gain in March, which was revised higher. The solid read on consumer spending, however, was accompanied by an uptick in interest rates, a move some market watchers blamed for a further decline in equities.
Traders for the first time Monday assigned a 51% chance of a fourth interest rate hike this year by the Fed. The strong data Tuesday will only increase the ranks of traders and investors with that belief.
The Fed, tasked with keeping inflation around 2% and maintaining healthy employment levels, considers economic data when deciding whether to increase the benchmark federal funds rate. Despite a narrow CPI miss last week, personal consumption expenditures — the Fed's preferred inflation metric — is now near the central bank's target
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury dipped sharply, raising yields to 3.06% from Monday’s 3%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave back 40 cents a barrel to $70.56 U.S.
Gold prices dropped $25.50 to $1,313.60 U.S. an ounce.
