Canada's main stock index appeared set to end six sessions of gains on Tuesday, as energy and gold stocks fell against the backdrop of a global downturn in sentiment due to concerns over a virus outbreak in China.
The TSX Composite Index came off its lows of the morning, but still trailed Monday’s close by 13.34 points to greet Tuesday’s noon hour EST at 17,584.05
The Canadian dollar dumped 0.16 cents to 76.49 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Aphria, which jumped eight cents, or 1.1%, to $7.10, after its unit got approval to supply medical cannabis in the European Union and as Alliance Global Partners initiated coverage with "buy".
Shares of Ballard Power fell $1.50, or 9.2%, to $14.79, the most on the TSX, followed by toymaker Spin Master, down $3.40, or 9.1%, to $33.90 after it said it expects a decline in 2019 gross product sales.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales declined 0.6% to $57.0 billion in November, the third consecutive monthly decrease.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange deducted 2.69 points to pause for lunch at 583.22.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups remained in the red, with health-care descending 1%, energy decreasing 0.9%, and industrials down 0.7%.
The five laggards were led upward by information technology, up 1.4%, utilities, advancing 0.8%, and communications, eking up 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite hit a fresh record high on Tuesday, the first trading day this week, led by Amazon shares. But the broader market was down slightly amid concerns around U.S.-China trade relations and a virus outbreak in China.
The Dow Jones Industrials stayed in the red 15.64 points to 29,332.46
The S&P 500 was 1.21 points shy of breakeven at 3,328.41
The NASDAQ nosed ahead 1.63 points to 9,390.65.
Caterpillar and Chevron were among the worst-performing stocks in the Dow, pulling back more than 1% each. The S&P 500 was led lower by the materials and energy sectors.
In corporate news, Boeing is in talks with banks to borrow $10 billion amid the spiraling costs of two crashes involving its beleaguered 737 Max aircraft. Boeing shares fell 0.4%.
The corporate earnings season will also continue after the bell with Netflix, IBM, United Airlines and TD Ameritrade set to report quarterly figures. So far, the reporting period is off to a good start. More than 70% of the S&P 500 companies which have posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
The Dow was headed for its first decline in six sessions while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ were set to snap a three-day winning streak. U.S. markets were closed Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Concerns over a new strain of pneumonia in China also drove investors away from stocks. The outbreak of the new coronavirus in China has killed four people with confirmed cases exceeding 200 ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, during which hundreds of millions of people are expected to travel.
Late on Monday, Chinese authorities confirmed that the virus is contagious.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday downgraded its global economic growth forecast from 3.4% to 3.3% for 2020. The U.S. economy is projected to grow by 2.0% this year, a downward revision of 0.1 percentage points compared with the IMF’s October 2019 forecast.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury gained sharply, lowering yields to 1.78% from Friday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 25 cents to $58.29 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $3.10 to $1,557.20 U.S. an ounce.
