Stocks in Canada’s biggest market remained in negative territory on Tuesday, as precious metal miners led a retreat that was limited by gains for shares of some energy names.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended Tuesday down 51.58 points to 15,130.61
The Canadian dollar jumped 0.39 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 55 cents, or 2.7%, to $20.08, and Goldcorp, which lost 52 cents, or 3.1%, to $16.20.
Tech stocks toppled, as BlackBerry slid 23 cents, or 1.8%, to $12.73, while Constellation Software fell $15.82, or 2.3%, to $662.59.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost ground with First Majestic Silver Corp down 66 cents, or 6.1%, to $10.10, and Kirkland Lake Gold dwindled 36 cents, or 2.9%, to $11.91.
Industrial stocks inched forward, as Bombardier acquired four cents, or 1.7%, to $2.40.
Pipeline operator Enbridge rose 18 cents to $51.84 and Cenovus Energy added seven cents to $9.63.
Among financial plays, Manulife eked lower 13 cents to $24.18, while Sun Life sank seven cents to $46.29.
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.
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 2.69 points to 764.05
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative on the day, as gold dropped 2.1%, with information technology off 1.7%, and materials sliding 1.5%
Two sectors were in the green, as industrials fought their way up 0.1%, and energy eked up 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
Markets were closed south of the border for Independence Day
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