Equities in Canada’s largest market fell on Tuesday, threatening to snap a 12-day rally, with energy shares leading losses on the back of lower oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index docked 102.95 points midday Tuesday – off its lows of the morning -- to 15,251.21
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.19 cents to 75.01 cents U.S.
The biggest percentage gainer on the TSX was Superior Plus Corp, which rose 38 cents, or 3.6%, to $10.99, after posting its preliminary results for 2018.
Kinross Gold, which increased six cents, or 1.5%, to $4.12, was the second biggest advancer.
Baytex Energy fell 14 cents, or 5.7%, the most on the TSX, to $2.33. The second biggest decliner was Kelt Exploration, down by 15 cents, or 3.1%, to $4.67.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said wholesale trade fell 1.0% in November to $63.0 billion, more than offsetting the 0.7% increase in October.
The agency went on to say sales were down in five of seven sub-sectors, representing about 82% of total wholesale sales.
Also in November, manufacturing sales fell 1.4% to $57.3 billion, the second consecutive monthly decrease. StatsCan said the decline in November mainly reflected lower sales of petroleum and coal products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 4.2 points to 593.88
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative over lunch hour, with energy tumbling 2.7%, while materials demurred 1.4%, and industrials fell back 0.8%
The four gainers were led by health-care, ahead 0.9%, utilities, better by 0.4%, and communications, hiking 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Tuesday, the first trading day of the week, as weak data out of China and lower global growth estimates from the International Monetary Fund renewed fears of the global economy slowing down.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumbered 267.32 points, or 1.1%, to 24,439.03, led by losses in DowDuPont and Caterpillar.
The S&P 500 reversed 33.36 points, or 1.3%, to 2,637.35, as the energy and industrials sectors lagged
The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 102.58 points, or 1.4%, to 7,054.64
Arconic fell about 20% after announcing it would abandon the pursuit of a company sale.
Shares of eBay jumped 9% after hedge fund Elliott Management revealed a $1.4-billion stake in the company. Elliott also sent extensive recommendations to the company’s management team.
Stocks came into Tuesday’s session riding a four-week winning streak, their longest since August, as investors have largely shrugged off fears of a slowdown in earnings growth as well as an ongoing U.S. government shutdown. The S&P 500 is also up more than 10% since Dec. 24.
The IMF, meanwhile, said Monday the global economic expansion is losing momentum. This led the institution to trim its 2019 growth forecast to 3.5% from 3.7%. The Fund also cut its 2020 growth outlook to 3.6% from 3.7%.
The major indexes fell to their lows of the day after the National Association of Realtors said U.S. existing housing sales fell to their lowest level in three years.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, reducing yields to 2.75% from Friday’s 2.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.71 to $52.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $1.10 to $1,281.50 U.S. an ounce.
