Markets in Toronto dipped soon after Tuesday’s opening, as some Canadian corporate results showed signs of weakness.
The S&P/TSX index settled 58.13 points to begin Tuesday’s trading at 12,032.55
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.03 cents at 97.47 cents U.S.
Encana Corp, Canada's number-one natural gas producer, reported a 25% fall in first-quarter operating profit due to hedging losses. Shares hiked 31 cents to $19.60.
Teck Resources Ltd., Canada's largest diversified miner, reported a 40% fall in first-quarter adjusted profit due to lower coal prices, and said economic uncertainty may affect prices and shipments. Teck shares stumbled $1.25, or 4.8%, at the outset to $24.76.
Contract electronics whiz Celestica Inc reported a 76% fall in first-quarter profit, hit by the loss of its once-biggest customer, Blackberry. Celestica traded up 26 cents to $8.09
Other stocks to watch include Canadian National Railway Co., who said oil companies are increasingly investing in transporting crude by railway, with growing demand expected to bolster earnings in coming years. CN shares backtracked 65 cents to $96.99.
Wireless company Rogers Communications Inc posted a 15% rise in quarterly profit as new smartphone subscribers pushed up wireless revenue. Rogers shares plummeted $1.86, or 3.6%, to $50.22
The U.S. environment regulator on Monday said the State Department must take a harder look at climate and other impacts of TransCanada Corporation’s Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil sands pipeline before the Obama administration issues a final decision on the project. TransCanada shares greeted the news by taking on 36 cents to $48.96.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported this morning that retail sales in this country rose 0.8% to $39.5 billion in February, running their monthly win streak to two. After removing the effects of price changes, especially hikes in gasoline prices, retail sales in volume terms were flat.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.02 points to 943.33
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower in the first hour of trading, yoked by gold, down 3.1%, metals and mining, off 2.8%, and materials, sinking 2.4%.
Information technology and health-care were the co-leaders among the five groups showing progress, each gaining 0.7%, while real-estate was 0.1% stronger.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks nudged higher at the open Tuesday, as strong earnings reports overshadowed gloomy news about the pace of global growth.
The Dow Jones Industrials charged from the gate, gaining 124.06 points to 14,691.20
The S&P 500 index inched up 11.92 points to 1,574.42. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite moved higher by 30.56 points to 3,264.11
Shares of heavily shorted Netflix surged 24% Tuesday, after the streaming video service reported strong subscriber gains on Monday.
Travelers Companies helped lift the Dow, with shares climbing 3% after the company reported a rise in profits.
Shares of Coach jumped more than 10% after the upscale retailer posted better-than-expected sales and earnings.
Airlines have been on the news this week due to concerns about flight delays at airports resulting from the federal government's forced budget cuts. But Delta Air Lines Inc shares rose more than 2% after reporting a first-quarter profit.
Apple headlines the list of companies reporting after the close, and it will be looking to reverse a slide that has dropped its stock roughly 45% since September.
AT&T is also set to report in the afternoon, and analysts will be keeping an eye on iPhone sales. Last week, Verizon reported that iPhone sales dropped 33% in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of 2012.
Economically speaking, the U.S. Census Bureau will later this morning publish data on new home sales. The annual rate is expected to have risen slightly in March to 415,000 from 411,000 the prior month, according to economists' forecasts.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury inched upward, lowering yields to 1.69% from Monday’s 1.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shed 81 cents to $88.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $9.40 to $1,411.80 U.S. an ounce
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