Markets in Toronto edged lower on Tuesday as a sluggish global growth forecast and weak data from Germany raised concerns about the state of the economic recovery.
The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 57.08 points to greet noon at 14,686.04
The Canadian dollar tailed off 0.25 cents at 89.85 cents U.S.
Shares of energy producers dropped, reflecting lower oil prices. Suncor Energy shed 0.3% to $39.44, and Talisman Energy dropped 0.9% to $8.96.
The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, weakened as trading in commodity prices was choppy. Teck Resources declined 1.5% to $19.55, and Barrick Gold lost 2.6% to $15.43.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the total value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities fell 27.3% to $6.7 billion in August, following three months of double-digit increases.
The agency says the August decline was mainly the result of lower construction intentions for non-residential buildings in Quebec and residential buildings in Ontario.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 4.66 points to 863.32.
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, with utilities moving up 0.6%, consumer discretionaries up 0.3%, and information technology up 0.2%
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by gold, down 1.5%, global base metals, off 1.2%, and the metals and mining group, sliding 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
The U.S. stock market fell on Tuesday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a triple-digit loss in midday trading.
The Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 131.78 points to 16,860.13.
The S&P 500 stumbled 10.38 points to 1,954.44. The NASDAQ index dumped 22.82 points to 4,431.98.
Investors remained reluctant to make big bets ahead of the earnings season as worries about weakness in the global economy took hold of European stocks as well and sent U.S. Treasury yields lower.
Yum! Brands Inc. will report quarterly results after the close Tuesday, but the third-quarter earnings season won’t be in full swing until next week. Alcoa Inc. will report Wednesday.
SodaStream International Inc. shares sank 18% in heavy volume ahead of the bell, hit hard as the carbonated-drinks equipment maker warned of a quarterly-sales shortfall.
The Container Store Inc. shares fell, extending their slide late Monday after the storage-organization retailer cut its profit and sales view.
The European Commission has opened an investigation into Amazon Inc.’s tax arrangement in Luxembourg. Amazon shares were off 0.8%.
Women’s clothing retailer Christopher & Banks Corp. forecast quarterly sales below Wall Street’s estimate, sending shares down 23%.
Agco Corp. shares stumbled 6.6% as the agricultural-equipment company cut its profit outlook for the year because of weaker-than-expected demand.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.38% from Monday’s 2.42%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were down 81 cents to $89.53 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices acquired $4.60 to $1,211.90 U.S. an ounce.
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