Stocks in Canada’s largest centre had trouble getting untracked early Tuesday, as shares for energy and financial firms weighed things down.
The TSX moved lower 48.84 points to open Tuesday at 16,465.60.
The Canadian dollar let go of 0.03 cents to 76.66 cents U.S.
Barrick Gold has lost a court challenge in Papua New Guinea over rights to a highlands gold mine and intends to appeal to the country's Supreme Court, the miner said on Tuesday, prolonging a dispute that has halted output as gold prices soar.
Shares in the gold giant sprinted 42 cents, or 1.1%, to $39.06.
On the economic front, the IHS Markit Purchasing Managers Index registered 55.1 in August, up from 52.9 in July, to signal the sharpest improvement in business conditions since August 2018.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 7.52 points to start trading at 758.61.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups started the session in the red, with energy dropping 0.8%, while consumer discretionary and financials each gave back 0.7%.
The three gainers were gold, better by 1.3%, materials, 0.9% to the good, and information technology, clicking 0.3% higher.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose slightly on Tuesday, the first trading day of the month, as the market tried to build on its best August performance since the 1980s.
The Dow Jones Industrials were down 0.37 points to open Tuesday at 28,429.68.
The S&P 500 moved higher 6.78 points to 3,507.09.
The NASDAQ Composite rumbled 82.45 points to 11,857.90.
The S&P 500 and the Dow just wrapped up their best August in more than 30 years. The blue-chip average rallied 7.6% in August for its fifth positive month in a row and its biggest August gain since 1984. The S&P 500 also rose for a fifth month straight, up 7%, clinching its best August since 1986.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ jumped 9.6% in August, posting its best monthly performance since 2000.
Apple led the gains in tech, rising 1.8%. That gain came a day after the stock rose more than 3% following a stock split that appears to be causing investors to snap up the shares. Tesla rose slightly even after a regulatory filing revealed the company would sell up to $5 billion of its own stock.
Shares of Zoom Video jumped more than 37% after reporting another blowout quarter. The video conferencing company’s revenue more than quadrupled in the fiscal second quarter compared to a year ago.
Walmart shares gained 1% in pre-market trading after it announced its Walmart+ membership program to compete with Amazon Prime.
Along with tech, reopening stocks — cruise line operators, airlines and hotels — had a big August. Royal Caribbean and MGM Resorts both gained about 40%, while FedEx and Gap jumped 30% each.
Delta Air Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line were also among the S&P 500 leaders in August. Many of those shares were down slightly in Tuesday pre-market trading.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were static, maintaining yields at Monday’s 0.71%.
Oil prices jumped 62 cents to $43.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices advanced $13.30 to $1,991.90 U.S. an ounce.
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