Stocks in Canada’s largest centre made their way into positive territory, however doggedly, even as a steep fall in the shares of miner Turquoise Hill Resources and lower gold prices pressured the materials sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index recovered 3.71 points to greet noon at 16,514.53
The Canadian dollar gained 0.05 cents to 76.69 cents U.S.
Turquoise Hill shares fainted 57 cents, or 41%, to 82 cents, after the miner said development capital spending for the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, that it partly owns, may exceed previous outlook.
Earlier in the day, Rio Tinto, which owns a majority stake in Turquoise Hill, flagged a cost blowout of up to $1.9 billion and a delay of up to 30 months at the mine.
The second biggest decliner was NFI Group, down $3.18, or 9%, to $32.18
Seven Generations Energy rose a penny to $6.84, while Pan American Silver gained 93 cents, or 5.4%, to $18.12.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that foreigners acquired $10.2 billion of Canadian securities in May, following two months of divestment.
At the same time, Canadian investment in foreign securities resumed to reach $4.1 billion, led by purchases of U.S. corporate bonds.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 2.2 points to pause for noon hour at 581.24
Seven of the 12 Toronto subgroups were in the red, as information technology fell 0.9%, communications dipped 0.8%, and consumer staples lost 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, boosting 0.9%, while industrials and materials were each up 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new record on Tuesday as Goldman Sachs shares rose on stronger-than-forecast earnings
The 30-stock average improved 7.22 points on Monday’s all-time high to 27,366.38
The S&P 500 docked 5.15 points to 3,009.14
The NASDAQ Composite slid 16.65 points to 8,241.53
Goldman Sachs’s strong results were driven by the company’s investment banking and trading divisions. Goldman shares rose 2.3%. The stock’s gains, however, were offset by declines in J.P. Morgan Chase and Johnson & Johnson.
J.P. Morgan Chase fell 0.2% after lowering its 2019 outlook for net interest income. The forecast reduction overshadowed better-than-expected quarterly results.
Johnson & Johnson, meanwhile, fell 1.3% despite reporting a 42% profit surge in the previous quarter.
So far, just over 5% of S&P 500 companies have reported calendar second-quarter earnings. Of those companies, more than 85% have posted better-than-expected earnings.
Investors will welcome the strong start to the earnings season, but the outlook for corporate profits remains bleak. Analysts expect S&P 500 earnings to have fallen by 3% in the second quarter.
United Airlines and CSX are among the companies due to report after the bell Tuesday. Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and American Express are scheduled to report earnings later this week.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury ducked, raising yields to 2.13% from Monday’s 2.09%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices eased two cents at $59.56 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $2.80 to $1,410.70 U.S. an ounce.
