The Toronto stock market was slightly lower Tuesday amid falling gold stocks and plans by Canadian Pacific's biggest shareholder to lighten its position in the railway.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index erased 15.83 points to end Tuesday at 12,593.97
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.58 cents to 96.71 cents U.S.
Canadian Pacific Railway weighed on the TSX, down $2.90 to $132.60 after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management, CP's biggest shareholder, said Monday that it plans to sell up to seven million of the railway's shares -- about a third of its holding -- over the next six to 12 months.
The stock has soared since Ackman won the battle to install new board members and a new chief executive, Hunter Harrison, who formerly held the top executive job at Canadian National.
The railway was also cut to underperform from sector perform by RBC Capital Markets. RBC also set a price target of $104 per share. RBC said Pershing's move will result in limited upside for the stock and put investor focus back on the fundamentals.
The telecom sector erased early losses that had resulted after Industry Minister Christian Paradis said Mobilicity and other new wireless carriers won't be allowed to sell spectrum to big carriers.
This was a setback for Telus which had asked permission to acquire Mobilicity and its spectrum. The wireless industry has been calling on Ottawa to clarify the rules ahead of the next spectrum auction, which Paradis has postponed to next year to allow more time for new entrants to prepare. Telus were up 20 cents to $35.99.
The gold sector was down while Barrick Gold faded 56 cents to $21.40.
Consumer staples were also weak, with grocer Loblaw Cos. down $1.20 to $49.44.
The energy sector was slightly lower as Cenovus Energy gained 20 cents to $31.20.
The metals and mining sector advanced, as July copper edged up four cents to $3.37 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources climbed 27 cents to $27.89.
Speaking of things economic, Statistics Canada reported this morning that our merchandise imports rose 1.2% in April, while exports edged down 0.2%. As a result, Canada's trade deficit with the world went from $3 million in March to $567 million in April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 10.16 points to at 958.90
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower at the end, weighed mostly by gold, down 1.4%, while consumer staples backslid 1.2/% and real-estate ducked back 0.8%.
The four gainers were led by metals and mining, ahead 0.7%, energy, up 0.3%, and consumer discretionary issues, gaining 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
A selloff in U.S. stocks gained momentum Tuesday afternoon on concerns about the global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials droppedf 76.49 points to 15,177.50
The losses snapped a streak of 20 successive winning Tuesday for the Dow.
The S&P 500 index shed 9.07 points to 1,631.35. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite fell 20.11 points to 3,445.26.
The retreat was led by shares of companies in the energy and industrial sector, which had been among the better performers recently.
Investors had been boosting their exposure to those companies, which stand to benefit from a rebound in economic activity. But a report on the U.S. trade deficit Tuesday highlighted concerns about weakness in global economic activity putting a damper on growth in the U.S. economy.
Salesforce.com shares fell after the company signed a deal to acquire cloud marketing platform ExactTarget for $2.5 billion U.S. Shares of ExactTarget surged 50%.
General Motors shares rose following news that the automaker will rejoin the S&P 500 replacing H.J. Heinz at the end of trading Thursday.
Zynga shares flipped between small gains and losses, following a 12% plunge on Monday, after the online game maker said it would cut more than 500 jobs, or nearly 20% of its staff.
Lululemon is bringing back its black luon yoga pants after making changes in the material to solve a problem that made them see-through.
Dollar General reported earnings and sales in line with forecasts but lowered its guidance. The news weighed on shares of other discount retailers, including Family Dollar and Dollar Tree
In economic news, the U.S. government's trade deficit rose to $40.3 billion in April from $37.1 billion U.S. in March, as imports outpaced exports.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury faded, raising yields to 2.14% from Monday’s 2.13%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up nine cents to $93.54 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $14.50 to $1,397.40 U.S. an ounce
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