Markets in Canada’s largest centre fell slightly at the open on Tuesday after energy shares gave back gains following a decline in oil prices fueled by worries over the threat of retaliation for attacks on Saudi Arabian crude oil facilities.
The S&P/TSX Composite inched back 3.01 points from Monday’s all-time closing high, beginning Tuesday 16,748.30
The Canadian dollar docked 0.31 cents at 75.23 cents U.S.
JP Morgan rolled forward Dec 2020 price target on Lightspeed POS of $41.00. Lightspeed shares lost 12 cents to $33.27.
National Bank of Canada raised the price target on WSP Global to $84.00 from $79.00. WSP gained 43 cents to $76.10
On the economic front, Statistics Canada revealed that manufacturing sales decreased 1.3% to $57.2 billion in July, mainly as a result of lower sales at primary metal and motor vehicle industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nicked up 0.4 points to 588.91
Seven of the 12 Toronto subgroups gained ground, with gold surging 1.3%, while consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks each climbed 0.6%.
The laggards were weighed by energy, sagging 2.2%, while health-care and information technology each faded 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a second straight day on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve kicked off a two-day monetary policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials scaled back 68.46 points to 27,008.36
The S&P 500 fell 1.72 points to 2,996.24.
The NASDAQ Composite dipped 3.98 points to 8,148.98.
Adobe stock let go of seven cents to $282.86, on presenting third-quarter earnings. FedEx shares slid $1.78, or 1%, to $171.79, ahead of first-quarter earnings, set for after the closing bell.
Strong U.S. manufacturing data and a drop in oil prices helped keep the stock market’s losses in check.
The Fed meeting is scheduled to end Wednesday, when the central bank is expected to announce its latest decision on monetary policy.
Market expectations for a 25 basis-point rate cut were at 63.5%. However, the possibility of the Fed keeping rates unchanged has risen lately. Expectations for the central bank to maintain the overnight rate at its current levels are at 36.5%, up from 7.7% a week ago.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 1.82% from Monday’s 1.85%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices stepped back $2.75 to $60.15 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost two dollars to $1,509.50 U.S. an ounce.
