Canadian stocks slipped for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, joining a slide as global equities snapped the longest winning streak in seven months after China import data disappointed.
The S&P/TSX composite index tumbled 119.63 points to end Tuesday trading at 13,844.73
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.13 cents at 76.81 cents U.S.
The benchmark Canadian equity gauge climbed 4.7% last week, the most since December, as commodities and emerging markets rebounded from earlier losses in September. The index has lagged global peers among developed markets this year with a 4.8% decline.
The data from China rekindled concern that a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy will spread. Those worries roiled global financial markets in August, and sent Canadian mining companies and energy producers tumbling.
First Quantum Minerals slumped 10% to $7.77 Tuesday and Teck Resources Ltd. retreated 9.4% to $8.73 to lead mining companies lower. Copper for delivery in three months lost 1.3% in London as nickel and zinc also fell. While copper has rebounded since late September, prices are still near a six-year low.
Goldcorp Inc. slipped 1.7% to $18.44 and Kinross Gold Corp. declined 5.6% to $2.72, as gold prices fluctuated while investors speculate on the timing of the first interest rate increase at the Federal Reserve since 2006.
Kicking Horse Energy Inc. soared 44.8%, the most since May 2012, to $4.69, fter PKN Orlen SA, Poland’s biggest oil company, agreed to buy the Canadian energy producer in a $356-million deal to increase its Canada production.
The country’s two main railway companies also weighed, with Canadian National Railway off 3% to $78.00 and Canadian Pacific Railway down 3.4% to $196.85.
On the positive side, a mix of consumer names and telecom stocks moved higher. Convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard added 2.3% to $61.25, and telecom company Telus Corp gained 0.6% to $42.80
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange poked up 1.12 points to 553.38
All but four of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, primarily metals and mining, down 6.2%, health-care, shedding 3.6%, and energy, sinking 2.6%.
The four gainers were led by consumer staples, up 2%, consumer discretionaries, better by 0.5%, and information technology, up 0.4%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday, as investors weighed slight declines in oil prices and more indications of slowdown in China's economy, amid key third-quarter earnings reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 49.97 points to close at 17,081.89, with Merck leading decliners and UnitedHealth the greatest advancer.
The last time the Dow Jones industrial average posted seven straight days of gains was in December last year.
The S&P 500 fell 13.77 points to 2,003.69, with industrials leading all 10 sectors lower.
The NASDAQ index gained 42.03 points to 4,796.61, with Apple ending a touch higher
The 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 2.04% from Monday’s 2.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dumped 60 cents a barrel to $47.71 U.S.
Gold prices gained $3.96 to $1,167.81 U.S. an ounce.
