Stocks markets in Toronto were virtually unchanged on Tuesday as falling oil and gold prices hurt the shares of energy companies and gold miners.
The S&P/TSX composite index slid 6.65 points to close Tuesday at 15,619.08.
The Canadian dollar faded half a cent at 91.49 cents U.S.
Markets on both sides of the border were shuttered for Labour Day.
Information technology stocks were among the strongest, as BlackBerry shares gained 38 cents, or 3.4%, to $11.43.
Another strong sector proved to be health-care, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals raced ahead $3.85, or 3%, to close at $131.23.
Among the heaviest weights on the resource-rich index was Suncor Energy, down 96 cents, or 2.2% at $43.67, and Canadian Natural Resources, off $1.22, or 2.6% at $46.17.
Goldcorp lost $1.29, or 4.2%, to $29.24, and Barrick Gold shed 47 cents, or 2.4% to $19.52, while smaller miners also pulled back.
Plane and train maker Bombardier gave up a penny, or 0.3%, to $3.65, adding to a plunge on Friday after a Swedish carrier backed out as the first customer to start commercial flights with its new CSeries jet.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 13.16 points to finish Tuesday at 1,010.83.
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were stronger, most notably, information technology and health-care stocks, each up 1.5%, while industrials picked up 1.2%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by gold, tumbling 2.5%, energy, down 1.8%, and materials, sliding 1.4%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were mostly down on Tuesday, retreating from record highs set the previous month, as energy shares were hit by the fall in crude oil to a 15-month low.
The Dow Jones Industrials shed 30.89 points to 17,067.56.
The S&P 500 dipped 1.09 points to 2,002.28. The NASDAQ gained 17.92 points to 4,598.16.
Noble Corp was the biggest loser among the S&P energy names, falling 3.3% while Ensco PLC fell 3.1%.
Home Depot Inc shares were the worst performer among the Dow 30, falling 3% to $90.16 U.S. a share after CNBC reported that hackers may have stolen credit-card data.
Digital Ally Inc shares soared 62.4% to $30.31 U.S., extending a meteoric rally that has pushed the stock up more than 900% since a 52-week low on June 10.
Shares have traded in record volume in recent days, as outrage over the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, has fueled interest in the use of wearable cameras among law enforcement.
Electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc jumped 4.9% to $283.01 U.S. after Stifel Nicolaus raised its target price for the company's stock to $400 U.S. Tesla shares were on track to close at a record high.
Merger activity continued to flourish. Discount retailer Dollar General raised its bid for Family Dollar Stores by 2% to $80 U.S. per share, or $9.1 billion u.S.. Family Dollar shares edged up 0.5% to $80.23 U.S. while Dollar General advanced 0.6% to $64.39 U.S.
The Institute for Supply Management manufacturing reading came in at 59.0%, easily topping the consensus forecast from economists polled by MarketWatch.
U.S. manufacturing companies grew in August at the fastest pace since March 2011, according to the ISM report.
Construction spending jumped 1.8% in July, also above expectations, and the final reading for Markit’s U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index was 57.9 in August, down slightly from the flash reading of 58.0.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dropped off sharply, raising yields 2.42% from Friday’s 2.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped $2.89 to $93.07 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $20.90 to $1,266.50 U.S. an ounce.
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