Canada's main stock index slid on Tuesday, weighed by losses in commodity-linked stocks and worries of an economic slowdown, while Canadian Western Bank surged on a brokerage upgrade.
The TSX tumbled 180.22 points to pause for lunch Tuesday at 19,787.73.
Canadian Western, for its part, added 69 cents, or 2.8%, to $24.95, after RBC turned bullish on the lender, while Fortuna Silver Mines nicked higher two cents to $4.46 as Scotiabank resumed coverage on the miner with a "sector perform" rating.
Meanwhile, United Conservative Party leader Danielle Smith won a majority government in the provincial election in Alberta; Smith is opposed to a New Democratic Party plan to cap oil and gas emissions, arguing it will lead to a production cut.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 7.99 points, or 1.3%, to 598.86.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the red, with energy plunging 2.4%, materials down 1.6%, and health-care, off 0.9%.
Only communications held out against the negative tide, and squeezed ahead 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 wavered Tuesday as Wall Street considered the likelihood of Congress passing a tentative deal on raising the U.S. debt ceiling.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded 113.06 points to reach noon EDT at 32,980.28.
The S&P 500 gained 7.78 points to 4,213.23.
The NASDAQ jumped 94.54 points to 13,070.23.
Markets were shuttered Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
President Joe Biden and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default over the weekend, with Congress set to vote on the legislation as early as Wednesday. Lawmakers have not signaled that they intended to return to Capitol Hill early to work on the deal. Both Republican and Democratic support is needed for the bill agreement to pass.
The agreement comes just days before the so-called “X date” on June 5, which is the earliest date the Treasury Department has signaled the U.S. could default on debt obligations. The initial compromise was first announced on Saturday evening.
The NASDAQ was helped by a more than 5% rally in Nvidia. The artificial intelligence-related stock reached a $1-trillion market cap — an elite marker surpassed by just a handful of stocks — on Tuesday, as shares continued to rally following its strong earnings report last week.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury spiked, lowering yields to 3.70% from Friday’s 3.81%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $2.54 to $70.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $16.00 to $1,979.10 U.S. an ounce.
