Canada's main stock index edged lower in choppy trading on Tuesday, as Restaurant Brands International's quarterly profit miss dragged down the consumer discretionary sector, while gains in energy and technology firms helped limit losses.
The TSX stumbled back 31.05 points to break for lunch Tuesday at 20,671.18.
The Canadian dollar deducted 0.03 cents to 74.97 cents U.S.
Restaurant Brands dropped $3.08, or 3.4%, to $88.29, as the company missed fourth-quarter profit estimates. The company also named former chief operating officer Joshua Kobza as its new chief executive.
Technology stocks such as Shopify up 28 cents to $65.31, a day ahead of its quarterly results.
Among energy issues, TC Energy gained 32 cents to $55.96 as the pipeline operator beat market estimates for fourth-quarter profit on sustained demand for energy.
CAE jumped $1.15, or 3.8%, to $31.34, after the aerospace and defense company's third-quarter results beat estimates.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped back 0.22 points to 616.19.
All but one of the 12 subgroups were in minus country, as gold dulled in price 1.3%, materials sagged 1%, and consumer discretionary stocks fell 0.9%.
The lone gainer proved to be energy, inching up but 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Tuesday, reversing earlier gains, after the January consumer price index report showed that inflation grew at a 6.4% annual rate, slightly higher than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrials cratered 355.37 points, or 1%, to move into noon hour EST at 33,809.56.
The S&P 500 deleted 34.09 points to 4,103.20.
The NASDAQ Composite ducked 87.15 points to 11,804.64.
A stubbornly high inflation reading sent stocks sliding. The consumer price index rose 0.5% for the month, which translated to an annual gain of 6.4%. That was slightly higher than economist estimates of the basket of goods and services rising 0.4% on the month and 6.2% on the year, according to a survey by Dow Jones.
In addition, the December report was revised to show a slight gain instead of a decline.
Before the number was released, JPMorgan’s trading desk predicted that an annual increase of 6.4% to 6.5% would trigger an S&P 500 loss of about 1.5% on Tuesday. It was better than worst fears of a greater than 6.5% annual increase, an acceleration in inflation that would have triggered an S&P 500 decline of 2.5%, JPMorgan predicted.
Beyond the CPI, investors will also be watching for earnings for insights into the health of the consumer. Kraft Heinz, Boston Beer and DoorDash are all scheduled to report this week.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 3.79% from Monday’s 3.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $1.24 to $78.90 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $5.80 to $1,857.70 U.S. an ounce.
