Stock indexes in Canada’s largest market fell on Tuesday as energy stocks weighed with lower oil prices and as software company Open Text Corp lost ground after its quarterly profit missed expectations.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dumped 102.15 points to greet noon at 15,549.93
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.13 cents at 72.86 cents U.S.
Open Text fell 6.5% to $44.55 after the business software maker reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit after the bell on Monday as it works to integrate Dell-EMC's enterprise content division, a purchase it completed in January.
Those losses offset a sharp gain for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, up 12.9% to $15.08, after reporting its first quarterly profit in six quarters and raising its earnings outlook.
Home Capital Group also spiked, up 18.6% to $8.10 after the alternative lender announced a plan to sell up to $1.5 billion of its mortgage book.
Among energy concerns, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd fell 1.9% to $42.23 and Suncor Energy Inc declined 0.9% to $42.85. Pipeline companies also fell, with Enbridge Inc down 0.7% to $56.57 and TransCanada Corp off 0.5% to $64.19.
The financials group fell, with Royal Bank of Canada down 1.2% at $93.10. Toronto-Dominion Bank fell 0.9% to $63.57.
Air Canada hit its highest level so far this year, adding to gains since it reported a smaller-than-expected loss on Friday. It was last up 2.2% at $14.40.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that the value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities fell 5.8% to $7.0 billion in March, marking a second consecutive monthly decrease.
The agency adds that all provinces and territories, except Ontario and Quebec, registered decreases in the total value of building permits in March.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 6.43 points to 773.65
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative by noon, as energy failed 1.5%, information technology backtracked 1.3%, and utilities slid 0.9%.
The lone gainer was in health-care, which hiked 4.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ composite hitting new records, as earnings season neared its end.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tailed off 0.7 points to 21,011.58,
The S&P 500 eked up 0.76 points to 2,400.14, as consumer discretionary led advancers.
Leading consumer stocks were shares of Marriott, which rose more than 6% after posting better-than-expected quarterly results.
The NASDAQ improved 16.56 points on Monday’s all-time high to 6,119.22, as Apple shares hit a new all-time high.
Companies set to report Tuesday include Priceline, News Corp. and Disney.
In economic news, the National Federation of Independent Business survey showed small-business confidence slipped in April.
Wholesale inventories for March rose 0.2%; economists expected a decline of 0.1%. The JOLTS (job openings and labour turnover survey) showed job openings totaled 5.7 million in March.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell back, raising yields to 2.4% from Monday’s 2.38%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices deducted 48 cents at $45.95 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices subtracted $9.20 at $1,217.90 U.S. an ounce.
