Stocks in Canada’s biggest market straddled breakeven in early trade on Tuesday, while Bombardier rose on a Bloomberg report it and Siemens AG are in talks to combine their train operations.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index eked up 0.14 points to kick things off Tuesday at 15,730.93
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.06 cents at 75 cents U.S.
Besides the merger talk, Bombardier said its board of directors approved a proposal to slash Executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin's pay by $1.4 million, bringing his 2016 compensation to $3.8 million, equal to his remuneration for 2015.
Bombardier shares gained nine cents, or 4.1%, to $2.31.
Barclays cut the target price on Imperial Oil to $48.00 from $50.00. Imperial shares faded 36 cents to $40.92.
National Bank Financial raised the target price on Transalta Renewables to $15.00 from $14.50. Transalta shares gained eight cents to $15.92.
Gold shares made their way up, as IAMGOLD gained 14 cents, or 2.5%, to $5.74, while Goldcorp forged ahead 24 cents, or 1.2%, to $20.15.
Among consumer discretionary issues, Canadian Tire lost 19 cents to $162.21.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange took on 2.75 points to 827.79
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, as consumer discretionary stock slumped 0.3%, while health-care and financials doffed 0.2% each.
The four gainers were led by gold, 1.3% brighter, materials, improving 0.7%, and utilities, squeezing up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions maintained a level of uncertainty.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 64.95 points to 20,593.07, shortly after the open, with 3M contributing the most losses.
The S&P 500 slouched 11.42 points to 2,345.74, with financials lagging.
The NASDAQ Composite dumped 32.62 points to 5,848.31
On the economic data front, the NFIB small business optimism index slipped to 104.7 in March from 105.3 in February, but the uncertainty index hit its second-highest level in history.
Elsewhere, the U.S. JOLTS Report (Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey) showed job openings were little changed at 5.7 million on the last business day of February. Over the month, hires and separations were little changed at 5.3 million and 5.1 million, respectively.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday his country will stand up against anyone who commits crimes against humanity, before heading to Moscow, where he and Russian officials are expected to discuss last week's suspected chemical attack in Syria.
The U.S. responded by launching 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield. But the Trump administration is also navigating through rising tensions with North Korea.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained, dropping yields to 2.33% from Monday’s 2.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 11 cents at $52.97 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices hiked $13.80 at $1,267.70 U.S. an ounce.
