Stocks in Toronto fell midday Tuesday, as a third day of falling oil prices put pressure on the heavyweight energy sector, while financial and mining stocks also pulled the index further from the all-time high it hit earlier this month.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index trudged lower 85.12 points to greet noon at 15,941.14
The Canadian dollar shed 0.24 cents to 78.54 cents U.S.
The energy group retreated as rising U.S. output pushed oil prices down, with Canadian Natural Resources losing 1.8% to $45.05 and Suncor Energy off 0.9% at $45.81.
Cenovus Energy, which said on Monday it had reached a deal to sell its Weyburn oil facility for $940 million, fell 1.7% to $13.70.
Premium Brands Holdings shed 7.3% to $94.38 after it reported earnings and revenue that missed expectations and reduced its 2017 organic volume growth forecast.
On the other side of the ledger, Bombardier Inc advanced 2.3% to $3.13 after saying it expects to finalize two recently-announced orders for its CSeries jets by the end of the year.
DHX Media Ltd rose 7.2% to $4.19 after the media content company’s earnings beat expectations.
The financials group lost ground, with Brookfield Asset Management Inc down 2.5% at $52.40.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost ground as diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd fell 2.3% to $27.17.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tumbled 13.36 points to 789.39
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups remained negative by noon, as energy lost 2.7%, health-care dipped 1.5%, and materials fell 0.3%.
The three gainers were led by telecoms and gold, up 0.5%, while real-estate inched up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as shares of General Electric slumped for a second straight day. Concerns about a potential global economic slowdown and U.S. tax reform also dampened investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones industrial average came off its lows of the morning, but remained negative 46.48 points to 23,393.22, as shares of General Electric slumped for a second straight day.
The S&P 500 dropped 5.8 points to 2,579.04, with telecommunications as the biggest declining sector.
The NASDAQ Composite eased 16.86 points to 6,740.74
GE shares fell 6.3% to its lowest level since June 2012 and have fallen more than 10% over the past two days. The company unveiled a massive restructuring plan and slashed its dividend by 50% at an investor meeting.
Dow-component Home Depot reported earnings and revenue that beat expectations. Same-store sales — a key metric for retailers — crushed estimates. But the stock traded 0.6% lower.
TJX Companies, the parent company of TJ Maxx, posted earnings per share that were in line with expectations, while revenue missed. But the company's stock fell after its same-store sales for the quarter remained flat. Analysts expected a gain of 2.3%.TJX shares fell more than 4%.
Investors also grew worried about the whether Republican lawmakers would pass a tax plan by year-end. Last week, the Senate unveiled a tax bill that would delay cutting the corporate tax rate to 20% until 2019. The current U.S. corporate tax rate is 35%. The House, meanwhile, wants to vote on its own tax bill this week. The House bill would immediately reduce the corporate rate.
In economic news, the U.S. producer price index rose 0.4% in October. Economists expected an increase of 0.1%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground Tuesday, lowering yields to 2.38% from Monday’s 2.4%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.23 a barrel to $55.53 U.S.
Gold prices were static to $1,278.60 U.S. an ounce.
