A seesaw day on the Toronto Stock Exchange ended with the main index dipping below breakeven, mostly due to weakness in resource stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index erased 13.2 points to close Tuesday at 15,439.44
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.49 cents to 79.07 cents U.S.
Markets on both sides of the border took Monday off, the U.S. for Presidents Day, Canada for Family Day
Cannabis concerns such as Aphria Inc. were on the move, Aphria leaping 79 cents, or 5.6%, to $14.85, while Canopy Growth hiked $3.05, or 11.5%, to $29.55.
Techs were also improved, as BlackBerry climbed 14 cents to $15.30, while Shopify soared $7.90, or 4.6%, to $180.50.
In the energy sector, Suncor gained 48 cents, or 1.1%, to $43.84. Epsilon Energy gained five cents, or 2.2%, to $2.38.
Among gold concerns, Eldorado Gold dipped three cents, or 2.1%, to $1.37, while Osisko Gold Royalties tumbled $1.08, or 8.1%, to $12.29.
In the materials sub-sector, Klondex Mines gave up nine cents, or 4.6%, to $1.87, while Osisko Mining dropped 21 cents, or 6.9%, to $2.83.
Consumer staples also took some knocks, as Metro subsided 37 cents to $39.75, while Loblaw Companies shed 19 cents to $65.69.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale trade Wholesale sales declined 0.5% to $63.0 billion in December, the first decrease in three months.
Lower sales were recorded in five of seven sub-sectors, representing 65% of total wholesale sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange strengthened 2.65 points to 832.82
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers, health-care racing ahead 3.2%, while information technology picking
up 1%, and energy better by 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by the 2.2% losses in the gold subgroup, while materials were punished 1% and consumer staples slipped 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average fell sharply on Tuesday, pressured by a steep decline in Wal-Mart shares and a rise in interest rates.
The 30-stock index plummeted 254.63 points, or 1%, to 24,964.75, with shares of Wal-Mart shedding 10.2%. The retail giant's stock posted its biggest decline since January 1988.
The S&P 500 dropped 15.96 points to 2,716.26, with consumer staples declining more than 2%. The broad index also closed lower for the first time in seven sessions. Wal-Mart was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500. Kroger and Kraft Heinz, which are also in the staples sector, were among the worst-performing stocks in the index.
The NASDAQ fell 5.16 points to 7,234.31, as a rally in tech stocks evaporated in afternoon trading.
Wal-Mart reported adjusted quarterly earnings of $1.33 per share, missing an estimate of $1.37. The company also reported a 23% drop in e-commerce revenue.
Meanwhile, Home Depot released quarterly results that surpassed analyst expectations, but the Dow component fell six cents to $186.71.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dipped, raising yields to 2.89% from Friday’s 2.87%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 22 cents a barrel to $61.77 U.S.
Gold prices slid $24.10 to $1,332.10 U.S. an ounce.
