Canada's main stock index opened lower on Tuesday as Wall Street's tech selloff hurt investor sentiment amid increased expectations for interest-rate hikes by the ?U.S. Federal Reserve.
The TSX Composite Index faltered 103.95 to begin Tuesday at 34,898.23.
The Canadian dollar waned 0.16 cents to 70.46 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 11.14 points, or 1.2%, Tuesday to 937.50.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, led by consumer staples, up 4%, health-care, up 1.5%, and telecoms, surging 0.9%.
The four gainers were weighed most by materials, docking 3.2%, gold, dulling 2.8%, and information technology, sagging 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was lower on Tuesday as a tech selloff that began during the prior session picked up steam overnight, with global markets in Asia routed as memory chip-related shares tumbled.
The Dow Jones Industrials were lifted 26.34 points to 51,738.05.
The much broader index shed 62.08 points to 7,410.71.
The NASDAQ plunged 348.64 points, or 1.3%, to 25,817.97.
The major averages came off their lows as tech stocks outside of chipmakers such as Microsoft and Amazon as well as defensive stocks like Walmart, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson moved higher.
Additionally, International Business Machines shares popped 4% following an upgrade to overweight at JPMorgan, while Sherwin-Williams and Merck saw gains as well.
U.S.-traded Micron Technology then followed suit, with the memory chipmaker down 11%. Sandisk fell 12% while components maker Seagate Technology also shed more than 8%. Intel pulled back 4%, while Advanced Micro Devices shed 5% and Qualcomm lost 8%.
Recent IPO Cerebras will report earnings after the bell Tuesday, while Micron will report results on Wednesday after the close.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury rebounded, lowering yields to 4.48% from Monday’s 4.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.16 to $72.60 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $51.20 to $4,151.70. U.S. an ounce.
