Canadian stocks followed their American cousins deep into negative territory Tuesday, the first trading day after a long weekend, partially on nerves over what is developing on the Pacific, and weighed heavily by losses in health-care and financial stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index plummeted 101.45 points to end Tuesday at 15,090.15
The Canadian dollar added 0.2 cents to 80.77 cents U.S.
Health-care issues took a major bruising, most notably Microbix Biosystems, fading two cents, or 5.4%, to 35 cents, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals dipped 25 cents, or 1.5%, to $16.25.
Financials tanked, following U.S. banks lower as investors flocked into low-risk government debt after markets opened for the first time since North Korea’s biggest nuclear missile test yet.
The most influential movers on the Canadian index included Royal Bank of Canada, which fell $1.34, or 1.5%, to $90.77, and insurer Manulife Financial, down 64 cents, or 2.6%, to $24.01.
Hudson’s Bay Co fell 82 cents, or 6.8%, to $11.27. The CEO of the company, due to report earnings after the bell, told the media its commitment to Europe is “rock solid” as it opened the first of 10 department stores in the Netherlands in the face of pressure from activist investor Jonathan Litt.
Gold stocks proved the brightest of the few subgroups on their way up, with Kinross Gold adding 26 cents, or 4.7%, to $5.81, and New Gold, jumping 22 cents, or 4.1% to $5.62.
Cenovus Energy jumped 33 cents, or 3.3%, to $10.28 after the oil company said it would sell its Pelican Lake operations in Alberta for $975 million. The buyer, Canadian Natural Resources, added 56 cents, or 1.5%, to $39.30.
Teck Resources declined $2.11, or 6.7%, to $29.47. The diversified miner has risen steadily from a trough below $20.00 in mid-June as copper prices have lifted off.
Other base metal miners also pulled back, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd down 55 cents, or 3.6%, to $14.68, and Lundin Mining off eight cents to $9.64.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.31 points Tuesday to 779.76
Nine of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower Tuesday, with health-care down 1.6%, financials down 1.2%, and consumer discretionaries sliding 1.1%.
The three gainers were gold, up 1.8%, energy, up 0.3%, and materials, crawling up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Tuesday, the first trading day of the week, as tension between North Korea and the West sent jitters down Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 234.25 points, or 1.1%, to 21,753.31, its biggest one-day drop since Aug. 17, with United Technologies and Goldman Sachs contributing the most to the losses. United Technologies' stock dropped after announcing a $30-billion mega-deal to buy Rockwell Collins. Boeing was also a large contributor of losses
The S&P 500 slumped 18.7 points to 2,457.85, with financials posting their worst day since May. Insurers XL Group and Everest Re Group were among the biggest decliners in the index as the threat of Hurricane Irma hitting Florida increased.
The NASDAQ lost 59.76 points to 6,375.57, as shares of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet all dropped.
North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb that can be mounted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile. This was North Korea's sixth nuclear test since 2006 and its most powerful to date.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained sharply, lowering yields to 2.07% from Friday’s 2.16%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices marched ahead $1.26 to $48.55.
Gold prices jumped $15.80 to $1,346.20 U.S. an ounce.
