Futures for Canada's main stock index edged lower on Tuesday, as oil prices slipped on concerns over International Monetary Fund warning on slowing global economic growth.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index regrouped 50.33 points Monday to 15,354.16. Since the start of 2019, the index has gained more than 1,000 points.
The Canadian dollar handed back 0.13 cents at 75.07 cents U.S. early Tuesday
March futures were down 0.5% Tuesday.
Australian cobalt developer Jervois Mining said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy Canadian cobalt explorer M2 Cobalt, as the hunt for quality mines in the battery materials sector gains pace.
An explosion of an Enbridge Inc natural gas pipeline in Ohio on Monday created a fireball of flame and damaged homes, prompting nearby residents to evacuate.
Barrick Gold said on Monday it was considering all options for Lumwana copper mine in Zambia as the country's proposed new mining taxes would make it challenging to generate adequate returns for all its stakeholders.
Credit Suisse cut the price target on Bombardier to $3.76 from $4.48.
Barclays raised the price target on Teck Resources to $42.00 from $38.00
Barclays raised the price target on OceanaGold to $4.50 from $4.00
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said wholesale trade fell 1.0% in November to $63.0 billion, more than offsetting the 0.7% increase in October.
The agency went on to say sales were down in five of seven sub-sectors, representing about 82% of total wholesale sales.
Also in November, manufacturing sales fell 1.4% to $57.3 billion, the second consecutive monthly decrease. StatsCan said the decline in November mainly reflected lower sales of petroleum and coal products. Excluding this industry, manufacturing sales rose 0.2%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 2.57 points Monday to 598.08.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures are indicating that stateside stocks are set for a rocky start to their trading week on Tuesday.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average capsized 142 points, or 0.5%, to 24,553
Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 15.75 points, or 0.6%, to 2,655.75
NASDAQ futures fell 53.25 points, or 0.8%, to 6,739.50
Firms such as IBM, Halliburton and Peoples Bancorp are due to report earnings Tuesday.
The U.S. is wrestling with its own troubles politically, with the country still mired in its longest-ever government shutdown, which has left about 800,000 federal workers going without pay.
Markets were shuttered Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day.
Over in Asia, stocks struggled for gains on Tuesday amid concerns about the global economic outlook after the IMF slashed its global growth forecast on Monday, warning that the economic momentum observed in recent years is decelerating.
The IMF now projects a 3.5% growth rate worldwide for 2019 and 3.6% for 2020. Those are 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points, respectively, below its last forecasts in October — making it the second downward revision in three months.
The report by the IMF came just hours after China reported its slowest economic growth in almost three decades.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.5% Monday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index withered 0.7%
Oil prices sank 92 cents to $52.88 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded 40 cents to $1,284.60 U.S. an ounce.
