Equity markets in Canada’s largest centre remained negative by noon ET on Tuesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump's latest threat to raise tariff on Chinese imports hit mining shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index stumbled 38.15 points to open Tuesday at 14,974.50
The Canadian dollar was off 0.12 cents at 75.32 U.S.
The financials sector slipped, pressured by a drop of five cents in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia that reported quarterly earnings below market estimates. Scotiabank shares reached noon at $70.04.
CES Energy Solution relinquished morning gains and fell four cents, or 1.3%, to $2.98, after National Bank of Canada raised rating of the oilfield service provider's shares to "outperform".
Shares of miner First Quantum Minerals fell 32 cents, or 2.7%, highest drop on the TSX, to $11.52.
The second-biggest decliner was Canada Goose Holdings, down $3.68, or 4.2%, to $84.30, after a 10-million share secondary offering.
In macroeconomic news, the federal government passed back-to-work legislation that will end the postal workers' strike, which lasted for more than a month, as the holiday season kicked off.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 4.11 points to 588.99
All but one of the 12 subgroups were in the minus category midday, as gold and materials each sank 2%, while consumer discretionary stocks dipped 1.7%.
Only information technology stocks ducked all the gloom, poking up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks pared most of their steep losses on Tuesday as a rise in Amazon shares helped offset doubt about a deal being struck on U.S.-China trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average came off its lows of the morning to register lower 36.35 points to 24,603.89
The S&P 500 doggedly fought higher 0.2 points to 2,673.80
The NASDAQ recovered 2.37 points to 7,084.23. Amazon shares rose 0.5%, erasing an earlier decline after the company said it had its biggest shopping day ever on Cyber Monday.
Shares of Apple dropped 0.5%. Steel stocks also fell broadly, as U.S. Steel shares fell more than 6%. Caterpillar — considered a trade bellwether for its large exposure to international markets — fell 0.9%.
Meanwhile, United Technologies pulled back 6% after the company unveiled a plan to split up its elevator, air conditioning and aerospace businesses.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said that it was "highly unlikely" that the U.S. would delay from increasing tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25%.
Trump went onto suggest that a 10% tariff on laptops and iPhones imported from China could be imposed. The president's comments come ahead of an all-important summit between leaders of the G-20, which includes both Trump and China's Xi Jinping.
Investors have also fretted over the Federal Reserve's plans to tighten monetary policy. The central bank is largely expected to hike rates next month.
Comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida also helped stocks bounce back from their lows. Clarida said the central bank was "much closer" to a neutral rate than it was in December 2015, the first time the Fed hiked since the financial crisis.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were slightly lower, raising yields back to Monday’s 3.07%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices improved a nickel to $51.68 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $10.10 at $1,212.30 U.S. an ounce.
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