Stocks in Canada’s biggest market remained in negative territory as Tuesday morning became afternoon (EDT) as precious metal miners led a retreat that was limited by gains for shares of some energy names.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 76.88 points to greet noon at 15,105.31
The Canadian dollar jumped 0.5 cents to 77.4 cents U.S.
Markets in Canada were closed Monday for Canada Day
The most influential movers on the index included major gold miners Barrick Gold, which fell 1.8% to $20.25, and Goldcorp, which lost 2.2% to $16.36.
The slips among bullion producers came despite the precious metal getting a bump from safe-haven buying after a North Korean missile launch.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost ground with First Majestic Silver Corp down 5.2% to $10.20.
Two major fertilizer producers gained, with Potash Corp of Saskatchewan up 1.3% at $21.42 and Agrium adding 1.3% to $119.
Pipeline operator Enbridge rose 0.7% to $52.04 and Cenovus Energy added 1.2% to $9.67.
The financials group faded, as Brookfield Asset Management lost 1.2% to $50.27. The company on Monday placed a formal bid for control of a Brazilian renewable energy company.
Some of the country's biggest banks notched small gains, with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce up 0.4% to $105.78 and Bank of Montreal adding 0.2% to $95.41.
They have risen recently as the Bank of Canada has taken a more hawkish stance and investors have bet on rate hikes coming sooner than previously anticipated.
In an interview with a German newspaper published on Tuesday, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said inflation in Canada should be well into an uptrend by the first half of 2018 and policy normalization must begin before price growth hits its target.
Canadian National Railway fell 0.4% to $104.81 after one of its trains derailed and spilled about 20,000 gallons (75,000 litres) of crude oil in Illinois.
On the economic ledger, the IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index eased further from April’s six-year peak of 55.9 to 54.7 in June, down from 55.1 in May.
Nonetheless, the latest reading was well above the neutral 50.0 threshold and signaled a solid improvement in overall business conditions.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 2.36 points to 764.38
All 12 TSX subgroups were negative midday, as gold dropped 1.8%, with information technology off 1.7%, and materials sliding 1.4%
ON WALLSTREET
Markets were closed south of the border for Independence Day
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