Stocks in Toronto lost ground on Tuesday as falling oil prices weighed on the country's substantial oil and gas sector and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International stock plunged on the exit of an activist investor.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dumped 94.33 points to greet noon at 15,450.49
The Canadian dollar shed 0.09 cents at 74.25 cents U.S.
Energy stocks waned, as oil prices fell to three-month lows after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reported that crude inventories in developed countries had risen above the five-year average in January despite production cuts by some of the world's largest exporters.
The most influential movers on the index included some of its biggest energy companies with Suncor Energy down 1.7% at $39.78 and Canadian Natural Resources losing 2% to $41.84.
Valeant slumped 9.3% to $14.70 after billionaire investor William Ackman walked away from the struggling drug company after trying to rescue it for some 18 months, taking a loss of more than $3 billion.
Convenience store operator Alimentation Couche Tard fell 4.5% to $59.02 after reporting earnings that missed analyst estimates.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 5.23 points to 799.32
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups had moved lower by lunch hour, as health-care plummeted 2.7%, energy dropped 1.5%, while consumer staples surrendered 1.4%.
Gold and information technology each crept up 0.1% by noon hour ET.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower Tuesday as oil prices continued to fall and traders looked ahead to a likely interest rate hike on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials was still negative, but had risen to within 22.3 points of breakeven by midday to 20,859.18. Chevron and Exxon Mobil were among the stocks with the greatest negative impact on the Dow
The S&P 500 was dragged down 7.82 points to 2,365.65, due largely to losses in energy issues.
The NASDAQ faded 24.71 points to 5,851.08
The Federal Open Market Committee is set to begin its two-day meeting Tuesday and is expected to raise rates. Traders will be watching for indications on how many more rate hikes to expect this year.
In economic news, wholesale inflation, as measured by the producer price index, gained 0.3% last month. In the 12 months through February, the PPI jumped 2.2%, the biggest advance since March 2012 and ahead of the 2% gain forecast in an economist poll.
Earlier on Tuesday, the National Federation of Independent Business said its small business optimism index fell 0.6 points to 105.3 last month.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note moved slightly ahead, lowering yields to 2.6% from Monday’s 2.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost 78 cents to $47.62 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices picked up $1.90 to $1,205.00 U.S. an ounce.
