Canadian stocks fell on Tuesday as investors around the globe shunned risk assets amid growing anxiety about the outcome of the U.S.-China trade negotiations later this week.
The TSX Composite Index hurtled earthward 135.29 points to greet noon at 16,286.46
The Canadian dollar moved lower 0.11 to 75.03 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Detour Gold, up 33 cents, or 1.9%, to $21.19, and First Majestic Silver which rose 22 cents, or 1.7%, to $12.89.
WSP Global fell $5.25, or 6.6%, the most on the TSX, to $74.75. The second-biggest decliner was Whitecap Resources, down 19 cents, or 4.7%, to $3.88.
On the economic calendar, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported September housing starts trended toward 223,507 units, compared to 218,782 units in August,
Meantime, Statistics Canada says the value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities rose 6.1% to $9.0 billion in August, largely because of increases in multi-family and industrial permits.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.91 points to 554.21
All but two of the 12 Toronto subgroups remained in negative country, as energy dawdled 2.7%, consumer discretionary stocks slid 1.2%, and health-care again lost 1.1%
The two gaining groups were gold, ahead 1.4%, and materials, up 0.4%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday as investor optimism around the upcoming U.S.-China trade talks faded.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell without a parachute, 295.38 points, or 1.1%, to 26,182.04
The S&P 500 collapsed 36.27 points, or 1.2%, to 2,902.52
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 97.94 points, or 1.2%, to 7,858.35
Bank shares fell broadly. Citigroup, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase slid more than 2% each as rates declined. The S&P 500 industrials sectors pulled back more than 1%, led by declines in Caterpillar and Deere. Boeing also contributed to the losses, sliding more than 1.5%.
Big tech shares such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet declined as well. Semiconductor stocks dropped sharply. Nvidia, On Semiconductor and KLA Corp. were among the biggest decliners
Bloomberg News also reported the White House is looking to limit Chinese stocks within government pension funds. Alibaba and JD.com U.S.-listed shares fell more than 1.5% each.
On the data front, U.S. producer prices posted their biggest drop in eight months in September, dragged down by lower costs for goods and services. Producer prices are an indicator of inflation and a decline could give the Federal Reserve more room to ease monetary policy.
The South China Morning Post reported China is toning down its expectations ahead of trade negotiations with the United States. The report said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He — who will lead the country’s trade delegation — will not carry the title of “special envoy,” signaling he has not received any specific instructions by President Xi Jinping. U.S.-China trade talks are set to start Thursday.
The U.S. also expanded its trade blacklist to include some of China’s top artificial intelligence firms on Monday, punishing Beijing for its treatment of predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. China’s foreign ministry said to "stay tuned" for retaliation following the blacklist expansion.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury moved upward, lowering yields to 1.53% from Monday’s 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices descended 46 cents to $52.29 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $4.30 to $1,508.70 U.S. an ounce.
