Canada’s main stock index fell on Tuesday, weighed by energy and mining companies which tracked lower commodity prices, although signs of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks limited losses.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 45.99 points to begin Tuesday at 21,931.84.
The Canadian dollar took on 0.07 cents to 79.93 cents U.S.
A unit of Brookfield Asset Management Inc and fund manager Morrison & Co matched a Macquarie-led consortium’s rival offer of A$5-a-piece for Australian telecom firm Uniti Group on Tuesday.
Brookfield shares gained 97 cents, or 1.4%, to $72.57.
RBC initiated coverage on Greenfirst Forest Products with an outperform rating and $3.00 price target. Greenfirst shares forked over a penny at $2.06.
RBC initiated coverage on Petroshale with a sector perform rating and $1.00 price target. Petroshale shares lost a penny, or 1.2%, in price to 82 cents.
National Bank of Canada cut the target price on Taiga Motors to $12.00 from $16.00. Taiga jumped 13 cents, or 2.3%, to $5.87.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and concerns around soaring inflation have roiled global markets in recent months, still, the TSX is set to post its biggest monthly gain since October on surging commodity prices.
Russia has decided to drastically cut military activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv in Ukraine, its deputy defence minister said, after talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Istanbul.
Statistics Canada said the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer—measured by the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours as payroll employment—was little changed in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was down 4.61 points to 873.18.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were still positive, however, with consumer discretionary stocks climbing 2.3%, information technology up 1.9%, and real-estate, ahead 0.6%.
The four laggards, however, were weighed most by energy, sliding 3%, materials, off 2.6%, and gold, dulling 2.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Tuesday morning, putting the major averages on track to build on the previous session’s gain as traders monitored ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 209.65 points to open Tuesday at 35,165.54
The S&P 500 moved upward 16.24 points to 4,591.76.
The NASDAQ Composite showed gains of 74.07 points to 14,428.97.
Auto stocks were some of the biggest gainers in morning trading, with Ford and GM each rising more than 5%. In tech, Netflix and Snap added more than 2%.
In corporate news, shares of FedEx rose more than 3% after the company announced that founder Fred Smith would step down as CEO on June 1 and be replaced internally.
Health care giant UnitedHealth Group announced a deal to buy LHC Group for $170 per share, sending the smaller company’s stock up 7%.
The conference board’s consumer confidence index came in at 107.2, below the 107.5 expected, according to Dow Jones. The U.S. Job
Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed 11.3 million job openings, higher than the 11.1 million expected.
In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, to be sure, both sides have said in recent days they are not close to reaching a deal. Ahead of the negotiations in Turkey, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on that “nothing is agreed upon unless everything is agreed upon.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the U.S. was focused on Russia’s actions more than its words.
Treasury prices popped, lowering yields to 2.40% from Monday’s 2.46%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices $4.90 to $101.06 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices tumbled $30.20 to $1,914.50 U.S. an ounce.