Gains in Canada’s main stock ran out of steam by the closing bell on Tuesday, as consumer staples and financials experienced losses that canceled out advances in health-care issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index faded 34.06 points to adjourn Tuesday at 16,296.97
The Canadian dollar slid 0.01 cents to 76.68 cents
Consumer staples seemed to have the most trouble, with Restaurant Brands International dropped 94 cents, or 1.2%, to $78.74, and Metro Inc. docking 77 cents, or 1.8%, to $41.92.
Financials were also in the red, as Scotiabank doffed 14 cents to $77.55, while Royal Bank lost 41 cents to $102.49.
Tech stocks backpedaled, as BlackBerry shed three cents to $13.17, while Shopify retreated $3.08, or 1.7%, to $174.11.
Ontario signed agreements with 26 cannabis producers including Canopy Growth Corp, Aurora Cannabis and Aphria Inc to supply products when it begins online sales of recreational marijuana in October.
Aurora led the main index with a 58-cent, or 7.6%, jump to $8.19. Canopy rose $1.40, or 2.9%, to $50.42, and Aphria took on six cents to $11.53
In the gold patch, Goldcorp crept up 12 cents to $14.19, while Barrick Gold gained nine cents to $13.29.
Industrials moved higher, Bombardier progressing six cents, or 1.2%, to $4.65, and Canadian Pacific Railway chugged along $3.29, or 1.3%,
to $266.09.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale trade was down 0.8% in June to $63.1 billion, for the second time in three months, with sales off in five of seven sub-sectors, accounting for 71% of total wholesale sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.48 points to 691.96
The 12 subgroups were evenly divided, with health-care stocks still ahead 2.2%, gold shinier 0.5%, and industrials stronger 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by consumer staples, financials and information technology, each off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 hit an all-time high on Tuesday and tied the record for the longest bull market ever as investors bet that the strengthening economy and booming corporate profits seen under President Donald Trump's first two years would continue, despite recent trade battles.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 63.6 points to 25,822.29, just 3% below a record high, with Intel and Goldman Sachs leading the index.
The S&P 500 moved forward 5.91 points to 2,862.96, led by consumer discretionary and industrial. The S&P 500 surpassed 2,872.87, a high reached on Jan. 26. The index failed to post a record close, however, ending the session at 2,862.96.
The NASDAQ took on 38.17 points to 7,859.17, as Micron and Netflix rose. The NASDAQ also closed less than 1% from reaching an all-time high.
Equities have been boosted by strong corporate earnings and solid economic growth this and last year. Since the start of 2017, the S&P 500 has risen more than 25%.
The bull market turns 3,453 days old on Wednesday, which would make it the longest on record by most definitions. The S&P 500 has risen more than 300% since hitting its financial crisis bottom.
J.P. Morgan is about to flip the switch on a new digital investing service, taking a bite out of discount online brokerages. The bank's new service "You Invest" will feature a bundle of discounted trading, an online portfolio-building tool and no-fee access to J.P. Morgan's stock research.
After various media reported the bank's new service, shares of Charles Schwab fell 2.4%, TD Ameritrade fell 7.1%, E-Tradefell 4.4% and Interactive Brokers fell 2.5%.
President Donald Trump went after the Federal Reserve once again, saying Monday he disagrees with the Fed's current tightening path for monetary policy. The Fed has already raised rates twice this year and is expected to raise rates two more times. Trump's comments, which weighed on interest rates on Monday, come shortly ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday.
Trump is also reportedly preparing to add tariffs on nearly half of Chinese imports this week. The new round of tariffs would come despite the expectation of restarted negotiations between the two largest economies of the world.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped, raising yields to 2.84% from Monday’s 2.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 89 cents at $67.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $6.20 to $1,200.80 U.S. an ounce.
