Canada's main stock index dipped at open on Tuesday, pressured by the materials sector, which was hit by a slide in zinc and nickel prices after demand worries escalated on Sino-U.S. trade tensions.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index stumbled 38.15 points to open Tuesday at 14,974.50
The Canadian dollar was off 0.12 cents at 75.32 U.S.
Bank of Nova Scotia reported fourth-quarter earnings marginally below expectations and said it planned to exit nine countries in the Caribbean as part of a shakeup of that business.
Scotiabank shares lost 20 cents to $69.89.
Maple Leaf Foods said on Monday it plans to set up a $660-million poultry processing plant in Ontario with investments from the federal and the provincial governments.
Maple Leaf shares nicked ahead 11 cents to $29.32.
The feds also passed back-to-work legislation that will end the postal workers' strike, which lasted for more than a month, as the holiday season kicked off.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 4.11 points to 588.99
Eight of the 12 subgroups fell on their way out of the gate, with materials sliding 1.2%, gold down 0.9%, and consumer discretionary stocks off 0.8%.
The four gainers were led by information technology, progressing 0.5%, consumer staples, up 0.3%, and communication stocks, better by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Tuesday as President Donald Trump's comments cast doubt about a deal being struck on U.S.-China trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average faded 86.49 points to 24,553.75
The S&P 500 doffed 1.31 points to 2,672.14
The NASDAQ slid 1.49 points to 7,080.37
Shares of Apple dropped 1.8%, while other popular tech stocks like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet also fell.
Steel stocks also headed lower, as U.S. Steel shares fell more than 5%.
Meanwhile, United Technologies pulled back 5% after the company unveiled a plan to split up its elevator, air conditioning and aerospace businesses.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said that it was "highly unlikely" that the U.S. would delay from increasing tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25%.
Trump went onto suggest that a 10% tariff on laptops and iPhones imported from China could be imposed. The president's comments come ahead of an all-important summit between leaders of the G-20, which includes both Trump and China's Xi Jinping.
Investors have also fretted over the Federal Reserve's plans to tighten monetary policy. The central bank is largely expected to hike rates next month.
However, Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said the central bank was "much closer" to a neutral rate than it was in December 2015, the first time the Fed hiked since the financial crisis.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were slightly higher, thus lowering yields to 3.06% from Monday’s 3.07%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices improved 34 cents to $51.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $5.30 at $1,217.10 U.S. an ounce.
