Equity markets in Canada’s largest centre stuck close to the breakeven point early on Tuesday, pressured by declining crude prices on concerns over the impact on oil demand from the coronavirus outbreak in China.
The TSX Composite Index eked ahead 4.38 points to open a short week to 17,852.74.
The Canadian dollar shaved off 0.14 cents to 75.40 cents U.S.
Markets were shuttered Monday for Family Day.
Air Canada missed analysts' estimates for quarterly profit, as the airline spent more on maintaining older aircraft in its fleet amid the grounding of Boeing's 737 MAX jet.
Shares in the Maple Leaf Airlines were grounded 81 cents, or 1.8%, to $45.41.
Alstom shares fell after the French firm agreed to buy the rail division of Bombardier for up to 6.2 billion euros, in a deal likely to be scrutinized by regulators and unions.
RBC raised the price target on Bombardier to $3.50 from $2.00, and Bombardier shares deducted nine cents, or 5.5%, to $1.56.
CIBC raised the price target on Canopy Growth to $35.00 from $30.00. Canopy shares docked two cents to $29.96.
CIBC raised the price target on CI Financial to $26.00 from $25.00. CI shares captured 19 cents to $25.28.
Canaccord Genuity starts coverage on Pembina Pipeline with a buy rating, with a price target of $58.00. Pembina gained a cent to $52.75.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said Tuesday manufacturing sales declined for the fourth consecutive month, down 0.7% to $56.4 billion in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 1.86 points to 572.35.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were in gaining country, with gold up 1.5%, utilities better by 0.8%, and communications ahead 0.7%.
The two laggards were financials and consumer discretionary, each down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Tuesday as a forecast warning from tech giant Apple stoked worries over the coronavirus and its impact on corporate profits and the global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials handed back 98.72 points to start Tuesday to 29,299.36
The S&P 500 deferred 6.04 points to 3,374.12.
The NASDAQ lopped off 6.83 points from Friday’s all-time high, at 9,724.35.
Markets were Monday for the Presidents’ Day holiday.
Apple cautioned it does not expect to meet its quarterly revenue forecast, citing slowed production and weakened demand in China as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The most valuable company in the U.S. initially said it expected to report net sales between $63 billion to $67 billion in its fiscal second quarter.
The company has not provided an updated forecast for its fiscal second-quarter. Shares of Apple traded 2.3% lower.
Still, Apple’s warning sent shares of some suppliers lower. Skyworks Solutions slid more than 2% along with Xilinx and Qorvo.
Walmart shares offset some of Apple’s decline, trading nearly 1% higher. The stock briefly fell more than 1% in the premarket after the retail giant reported earnings that fell short of Street expectations.
China’s National Health Commission on Tuesday reported an additional 98 deaths nationwide, with 1,886 new cases of the coronavirus. As of Feb. 17, the commission said there had been a total of 72,346 confirmed cases and 1,868 deaths.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 1.56% from Friday’s 1.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices deducted 62 cents to $51.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on $6.20 to $1,592.60 U.S. an ounce.
