The Toronto stock market was slightly lower Tuesday ahead of key economic data that traders hope will reinforce the view that the U.S. recovery is still on track, helping to make up for worsening conditions in Europe.
The S&P/TSX index gave back 3.17 points to begin Tuesday at 12,691.97
The Canadian dollar was up 0.31 cents at 98.68 cents U.S.
On the commodity markets, Barrick Gold Corp. faded 49 cents to $28.99.
May copper was a cent lower at $3.36 U.S. a pound after closing Monday at an eight-month low, reflecting lower demand amid a slow global economic recovery. The base metals sector moved lower and HudBay Minerals declined nine cents to $9.55.
The consumer staples sector advanced, as convenience store owner Alimentation Couche-Tard gained 64 cents to $55.70.
The tech sector was higher as BlackBerry rose 21 cents to $15.56.
Insurers helped keep the financial sector positive as Manulife Financial rose 10 cents to $10.84.
In corporate news, TransCanada Corp. shares gained 15 cents to $49.44 as it begins to seek firm commitments from parties interested in new capacity for shipping oil from Western to Eastern Canada.
Traders also looked ahead to March employment data for Canada and the U.S. coming out Friday.
Economists expect American job gains totaled about 190,000 in March after the economy cranked out 236,000 jobs in February, with the unemployment rate staying unchanged at 7.7%.
In Canada, Statistics Canada was expected to report that about 10,000 jobs were created in March. However, CIBC said in a note that it expects only about 5,000 new positions following a blowout performance in February when 50,700 jobs were created.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 7.12 points to 1,082.44
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher at the outset, with utilities up 0.5%, consumer staples ahead 0.4%, and real-estate surging 0.3%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by gold, down 1.9%, materials, down 1.5%, and the metals and mining group, off 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks continued to fly high Tuesday, with the Dow reaching a record trading high right at the open.
The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 85.29 points to a new intraday high of 14,658.10
The S&P 500 index moved higher 9.03 points to 1,571.20. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite progressed 24.66 points to 3,263.83.
It's been a solid 2013 for stocks: Even with a slight retreat Monday, all three major indexes are still up between 7% and 11% for the year.
Major automakers, including Ford and GM are also set to release their monthly sales figures Tuesday. Forecasts are for another strong month of sales, with some experts anticipating the best sales month in five years.
Shares of health-care firms including Humana United Health and Aetna rose between 4% and 9% after the government announced a 3.3% increase in Medicare Advantage rates for next year, rather than the 2.3% cut that had been floated previously.
Hewlett-Packard shares slid nearly 6% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the firm to "sell." Goldman also kicked Apple off its "conviction buy" list and cut the price target to $575 from $600. Still, Goldman is retaining its "buy" rating for Apple, whose shares were up about 0.8% Tuesday.
On the economic slate, the Census Bureau was set to publish data on factory orders for February, following an underwhelming report on U.S. manufacturing Monday.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, upping yields to 1.86% from Monday’s 1.84%. Treasury prices yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell back 54 cents to $96.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices tumbled $17.60 to $1,581.90 U.S. an ounce.
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