Stocks in Canada’s largest centre turned negative shortly after the open, as weaker natural resource stocks and bank issues, the index's most influential groups, dragged the market lower.
The S&P/TSX composite index faded 48.02 points to open Tuesday at 15,364.58
The Canadian dollar slid 0.35 cents to 81.41 cents U.S.
Teck Resources slashed its half-yearly dividend and posted quarterly profit below analysts' estimates on Tuesday as prices for steel-making coal and copper remained depressed. Teck shares plummeted $1.15, or 6.8%, to $15.77.
Rogers Communications Inc posted an unexpected 17% drop in quarterly profit on Monday as the cable, phone and media company struggled to hold on to customers during a period of industry-wide turbulence. Rogers shares crept up four cents to $41.90.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc said on Monday it is raising $1.1 billion through a new equity issue that will help the alternative asset manager fund some of the deals it is currently viewing. Brookfield dropped $2.77, or 3.9%, to $67.94.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Canadian National Railway to $85.00 from $83.00. CN shares fell $2.05, or 2.5%, to $81.30.
CIBC cuts rating on Gran Tierra Energy Inc. to sector perform from outperform. Gran Tierra lost eight cents, or 1.9%, to $4.07.
On things economic, Statistics Canada reported this morning that wholesale trade slumped again in February, this time by 0.4% to $53.6 billion, a six-month low. Sales were down in three of seven subsectors, accounting for 51% of wholesale sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.08 points to 706.73
Seven of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower to begin the day, with metals and mining shuttling lower 2.6%, while industrials and real-estate each sinking 1.1%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by health-care, up 1%, information technology, up 0.8%, and telecoms, beaming higher 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mixed on Tuesday, attempting to continue momentum from Monday as investors eyed a slew of earnings reports and oil held near recent highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials sank 26.46 points to 18,008.47, after a gain of more than 1% Monday. United Technologies led gains and DuPont was the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 index picked up 3.66 points to 2,104.06, with health-care leading five sectors higher and materials the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index gained 24.61 points to 5,019.21, outperforming the major indices as Facebook gained 1.5%.
DuPont earned an adjusted $1.34 U.S. per share for the first quarter, five cents above estimates, though revenue was below forecasts. DuPont said quarterly results were impacted negatively by 25 cents U.S. from the stronger dollar. Additionally, DuPont also announced an increase in its quarterly dividend by 4% to 59 cents U.S. per share.
United Technologies beat estimates by 13 cents U.S. with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.58 U.S. per share, with revenue slightly below forecasts. UTC said it had a good start to the year despite ongoing headwinds from currency effects.
Kimberly-Clark reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.42 U.S. per share, nine cents above estimates, with revenue also above forecasts. The personal care products maker also warned that currency effects will cut its 2015 operating profit by 10% to 11%.
Verizon beat forecasts by seven cents with quarterly profit of $1.02 U.S. per share, though revenue fell slightly short. Verizon's wireless operation also added 565,000 subscribers in the quarter compared to a year earlier.
IBM reported adjusted quarterly profit of $2.91 U.S. per share, 11 cents above estimates. Revenue was essentially in line with estimates, though it did fall for the 12th straight quarter as IBM continues its transformation toward cloud-based businesses.
Hormel said its turkey supply chain has been significantly disrupted due to avian flu outbreaks in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Hormel is sticking with its prior fiscal 2015 earnings guidance, but did say it expects results toward the lower end of its projected range.
Amgen, Yahoo, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Discover Financial, Illumina, Yum Brands, Cree, iRobot report after the bell.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries sagged, raising yields to 1.91% from Monday’s 1.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up two cents to $56.40 U.S.
Gold prices gained $1.80 to $1,195.50 U.S.
