Canada's main stock index pulled back on Tuesday, with energy stocks stung by a drop in oil prices and investor sentiment hurt by weak trade data out of China.
The S&P/TSX composite index remained negative 37.19 points to greet noon at 13,927.17
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.06 cents at 77.01 cents U.S.
The most influential decliners on the index included Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, which fell 3.3% to $31.00, and Suncor Energy, which declined 0.6% to $36.47.
The materials group fell, with First Quantum Minerals down 8.5% to $7.90 and Teck Resources declining 8.8% to $8.78.
Prices for copper and gold also slipped.
The country's two main railway companies also weighed, with Canadian National Railway off 1.6% to $79.14 and Canadian Pacific Railway down 2.5% at $198.70.
On the positive side, a mix of consumer names and telecom stocks moved higher. Convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard added 2.2% to $61.19 and telecom company Telus Corp gained 1.3% to $43.11.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange 3.07 points to 555.33.
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, primarily metals and mining, down 6%, while health-care and industrials each sank 1.6%.
The five gainers were led by consumer staples, up 1.9%, information technology, up 1.4%, consumer discretionaries, better by 0.8%,
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a range Tuesday, as some gains in oil prices offset fresh indications of slowdown in China's economy, amid key third-quarter earnings reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average regained 4.94 points to greet noon at 17,136.80, with United Technologies leading decliners and UnitedHealth the greatest advancer.
The S&P 500 inched up 0.04 points to 2,017.5, with industrials leading seven sectors lower and materials the greatest advancer.
The NASDAQ index gained 4.23 points to 4,842.87, with Apple holding a touch higher
The key focus for investors is third-quarter earnings season, which gets underway Tuesday with Johnson & Johnson before the bell and Intel and JP Morgan Chase after the close.
Johnson & Johnson reported earnings that beat but missed on revenue. Separately, the firm announced a $10-billion U.S. share repurchase.
S&P 500-listed corporations are expected to post a 5.3% decline in third quarter 2015 earnings growth, the first third-quarter decline in six years, according to consensus data from S&P Capital IQ. However, excluding the energy sector drag of a sharp negative 65.6%, S&P 500 earnings growth would be 2.7%.
The International Energy Agency reported that global oil demand growth would slow in 2016, to 1.2 million barrels per day from 1.8 million in 2015.
China's dollar-denominated imports plunged by a worse-than-expected 20.4% in September from a year earlier, while exports slipped 3.7%, producing a trade surplus of $60.34 billion U.S., official data showed on Tuesday.
Later in the day comes the Treasury budget for September, as well as a Democrat Presidential debate in the evening.
In other economic news, U.S. small business confidence rose 0.2 in September to 96.1 as stock market volatility raised concerns about sales growth, the National Federation of Independent Business said Tuesday. The organization said the level was consistent with a 2.5% annualized growth rate.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were higher, dropping yields to 2.06% from Monday’s 2.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 61 cents a barrel to $47.71 U.S.
Gold prices remained positive three dollars to $1,166.85 U.S. an ounce.
Stocks Look Toward Earnings
