Canada's main stock index slid on Tuesday to its lowest in nearly two weeks after the breakup of a Russian-Belarusian potash joint venture sent Potash Corp. shares tumbling on fears of a drop in the price of the fertilizer ingredient.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 87.29 points to end Tuesday at 12,581.75
The Canadian dollar eased 0.32 cents to 97.09 cents U.S.
Russia's Uralkali dismantled the world's largest potash cartel in a move that it expects to slash prices by 25%, ushering in a reshaped industry and pummeling shares of rival producers.
Potash, one of the world's largest fertilizer makers, dropped $6.24, or 16% to $32.66. With more than 27.4 million shares changing hands, it was by far the most active listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Agrium Inc, another member of the North American Canpotex potash marketing joint venture, stumbled $4.69, or 5% to $89.15.
Gold miners' shares declined as the price of bullion fell. Goldcorp Inc lost 29 cents, or almost 1% to $29.12, and Barrick Gold Corp fell 37 cents, or 2.1%, to $17.72.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, were also down.
Toronto Dominion Bank declined $1.64, or 1.8% to $87.25, and Royal Bank of Canada slipped 34 cents, or 0.5%, to $64.89.
TD Bank's stock fell after the company warned it expects to report a third-quarter loss in its insurance business due to floods in Alberta and storms in the greater Toronto area, joining a list of Canadian companies hurt by bad weather.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that its industrial product price index rose 0.3% in June, as a result of higher prices for motor vehicles and other transportation equipment as well as petroleum and coal products.
The agency also reports its raw materials price index advanced 0.3% during the same month, mostly because of higher prices for animals and animal products and crude oil.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped back 10.28 points to 914.41
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative by day’s end. Materials slid 3.6%, while metals and mining lost 1.5% and global base metals dipped 1.4%.
The four gainers were led by health-care, stronger by 0.7%, industrials, up 0.3% and energy, inching up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks held onto modest gains Tuesday afternoon, as investors turned cautious ahead of the Fed, and the latest monthly jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials spent much of the day in positive territory, before lurching lower by 1.38 points to hear the closing bell at 15,520.60
The S&P 500 index gained but 0.63 points to 1,685.96. The NASDAQ improved 17.33 points to 3,616.47
Facebook shares came within spitting distance of their IPO price after the social network debuted Mobile Games Publishing, a program aimed at helping small-to-midsized game developers.
Other tech shares continued to push higher on the heels of last week's strong earnings reports. Electronic Arts was among the NASDAQ's biggest gainers Tuesday, while Apple continued to nudge higher.
Earnings continue to give investors a lot to chew on.
Shares of Herbalife rallied after the nutritional supplement company reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its guidance.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company blew past analyst estimates, sending its shares up more than 8%.
Shares of Pitney Bowes surged on news that Apollo Global Management will acquires its management services business for about $400 million U.S. in cash. Pitney Bowes, which also reported better-than-expected earnings, was among the biggest gainers on the S&P 500.
Dow component Pfizer reported a drop in earnings that nonetheless beat analysts' forecast by a penny a share.
Shares of BP fell after the company's quarterly results missed market expectations. BP reported a drop in earnings due, in part, to lower oil prices and higher taxes. BP is also expecting to pay more in U.S. settlements related to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.
Barclays shares fell after the bank revealed it will be selling $8.9 billion U.S. in new shares at a discounted price to existing shareholders to meet capital requirements set out by regulators.
CBS and Time Warner Cable agreed to continue negotiations on the fee the cable operator pays to carry Showtime as well as CBS in the nation's largest markets. The new deadline that could see three million Time Warner Cable customers lose the networks was pushed back to Friday.
Sprint reported a loss for the quarter as it shut down its Nextel network and moved millions of subscribers to its Sprint platform. The loss comes even as the company boosted sales.
The U.S. Federal Reserve began its two-day policy meeting, which culminates with a statement from the central bank Wednesday afternoon.
The Fed's stimulus programs have played a big role in fueling the current bull market and investors are keen for any hints about how and when its latest $85 billion-a-month bond buying spree might get unwound.
The biggest report this week will be Friday's July jobs report. Last month's report showed marked improvement in the labour market and investors are hoping to see that momentum continue.
Economically speaking, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index jumped 12.2% in May. That marked the biggest year-over-year gain since 2006, near the peak of the housing bubble.
Confidence among U.S. consumers declined more than forecast in July after reaching a five-year high a month earlier as Americans grew more pessimistic about the outlook for the economy and employment.
The U.S. Conference Board’s index of sentiment decreased to a reading of 80.3 from a revised 82.1 the prior month that was stronger than initially estimated, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. The median forecast in a survey of economists was for a reading of 81.3.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were lower, raising yields to 2.60% from Monday’s 2.58%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faltered $1.45 to $103.10 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were $2.90 lower to $1,325.50 U.S. an ounce.
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