Equities in Canada’s largest market opened lower on Tuesday, as heavyweight energy shares were weighed down by extended losses in oil prices on global demand concerns.
The TSX/S&P Composite faltered 96.67 points to open for business on Tuesday at 20,386.75
The Canadian dollar fell 0.26 cents to 79.29 cents U.S.
ATB Capital Markets upped the rating on Auxly Cannabis Group to outperform from sector perform.
RBC cut the rating on Equitable Group to sector perform from outperform
RBC raises target price on Stelco Holdings to $62.00 from $59.00.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported Canadian investors acquired a record $28.1 billion in foreign securities in June, largely purchases of US shares. Meanwhile, non-residents added $19.6 billion in Canadian securities to their holdings, mainly in the form of money market instruments.
What’s more, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported the trend in housing starts was 286,620 units in July, down from 293,085 units in June.
Moreover, the opposition Conservative Party set out its election platform on Monday, with leader Erin O’Toole pledging to bring back jobs lost to the COVID-19 pandemic and to balance the federal budget within 10 years.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 11.56 points, or 1.3%, to 894.11
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour of trade, weighed most by consumer discretionary, off 1.7%, health-care, off 0.9%, and industrials, down 0.8%.
The two gainers were gold, up 0.7%, and energy, eking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock indexes fell Tuesday as July retail sales declined, another sign the economy may be slowing a bit in the face of a COVID resurgence.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 244.54 points from Monday’s all-time record to 35,380.86.
The S&P 500 dumped 24.62 points to 4,455.09,
The NASDAQ slipped 111.34 points to 14,682.43.
Home Depot fell more than 4% after reporting second-quarter results, weighing on the Dow. While quarterly earnings topped estimates, same-store sales rose 4.5% in the period, below the 5% consensus estimate of analysts polled by StreetAccount. U.S. same store sales increased by just 3.4%.
Walmart shares inched higher after second-quarter earnings topped estimates. The retailer gained ground in groceries and reported a strong start to the back-to-school season.
Elsewhere, technology names trended lower. Facebook shares retreated about 1% and Nvidia shares declined more than 2%.
Meanwhile, healthcare shares saw some strength with United Health, Merck and Johnson & Johnson trading in the green.
Retail sales declined 1.1% in July, a steeper drop than the 0.3% dip expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The Census Bureau revised June’s reading to a 0.7% jump.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained ground, lowering yields to 1.25% from Monday’s 1.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost 99 cents to $67.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices prospered $10.70 to $1,788.90 U.S. an ounce.