Stock prices in Canada’s biggest centre took a tumble on Tuesday, as better-than-expected economic numbers put a damper on the likelihood the Bank of Canada would further cut interest rates Wednesday.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 119.12 points, to begin Tuesday trading at 15,144.93
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.57 cents to 80.33 cents U.S.
Bank of Nova Scotia reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit, hurt by higher provisions and a "softer" performance in its investment banking business. Scotiabank shares doffed $1.01, or 1.5%, to $65.92.
BlackBerry unveiled a new mid-market smartphone dubbed the BlackBerry Leap that is set to replace the Z3 device launched a year ago, in a move to woo buyers in certain emerging markets where BlackBerry still has a fairly large client base. BlackBerry shares picked up 19 cents, or 1.4%, to $14.06.
Silver Wheaton Corp said on Monday it would pay $900 million for the right to buy an additional 25% of future gold production from Vale SA's Salobo mine in Brazil, boosting its 2015 gold output to 230,000 ounces. Wheaton shares dropped 40 cents to $47.04.
CIBC cut the rating on Constellation Software Inc. to underperform from sector perform. CIBC also cut the rating on Major Drilling Group sector perform from outperform. Major Drilling shares shed 71 cents, or 10.3%, to $6.18.
Lastly, CIBC raised the target price on Mitel Networks Corp $15 from $12.50. Mitel shares gathered 34 cents, or 3%, to $11.51.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported this morning that December’s Gross Domestic Product kept rolling in the final quarter of 2014, after a 0.8% jump in Q3. Monthly real GDP increased 0.3% in December.
The agency also reported that its industrial product price index declined 0.4% in January, largely as a result of lower prices for energy and petroleum products, while its raw materials price index faded 7.7% in January, lower energy prices again the main culprit.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lopped off 1.16 points to 703.14
Only gold, among the 14 Toronto subgroups, made headway in the trading day’s first hour, improving 0.8%.
Everything else was negative, most notably, real-estate, retreating 1.1%, while metals and mining and consumer staples stocks each moved 1% lower.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower on Tuesday following a close near highs on Monday, amid U.S. auto sales and continued stabilization in oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials stepped back 71.77 points from Monday’s lofty heights to kick off trading Tuesday at 18,216.86, led by Boeing and Intel.
The S&P 500 slid 9.61 points to 2,107.78, with telecommunications leading all sectors.
The NASDAQ index moved backward 24.92 points to 4,983.18,
U.S. stocks closed at records on Monday, with the NASDAQ above 5,000 for the first time since March 2000. The Dow and S&P 500 set new records.
Best Buy earned an adjusted $1.48 U.S. per share for its latest quarter, beating estimates by 13 cents U.S, though revenue was slightly below forecasts. Best Buy also declared a special dividend of 51 cents U.S. per share, and increased its regular quarterly dividend by 21% to 23 cents U.S. per share.
Dick's Sporting Goods earned an adjusted $1.30 U.S. per share for its latest quarter, eight cents above estimates, with revenue also above forecasts. Dick's said it expected to earn $3.10 to $3.20 U.S. per share for 2015, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 U.S.
AutoZone reported quarterly profit of $6.51 U.S. per share, 13 cents above estimates, with revenue also above consensus. Domestic same-store sales were up 3.6% from a year earlier.
Vehicle sales data for February are expected to show a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.7 million versus 16.6 million in January.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were unchanged, keeping yields at Monday’s 2.08%.
Oil prices inched up seven cents to $49.66 U.S.
Gold prices added $3.50 an ounce to $1,211.70 U.S.
Related Stories
