Equities in Canada’s biggest centre fell on Tuesday as investors shied away from making big bets as the U.S. Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day meeting on monetary policy.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 29.32 points to greet noon at 15,314.76
The Canadian dollar gained 0.42 cents to 83.14 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included Enbridge, which fell 1.3% to $65.00, and Transcanada Corp, which declined 1.5% to $57.22.
Among financials, Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.3% to $80.41:2.
Materials gained, helped in large part by higher bullion prices, which rose after weak U.S. data hurt the greenback.
Six of the top eight most influential gainers were gold mining firms. Barrick Gold shares rose 2.6% to $15.92, while Goldcorp rose 2% to $23.66. Agnico Eagle Mines rounded up the top three, advancing 3.9% to $37.84.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nicked ahead 2.17 points to 692.27
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower, as energy slid 0.9%, while the information technology and metals and mining sectors each shrank 0.7%.
The four gainers were led by gold, shining 2.6% brighter, materials, better by 1%, and global base metals, up 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher, recovering morning losses amid international news as investors eyed Apple earnings and the beginning of the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 45.98 points midday Tuesday to 18,083.95, with Merck up 5% and Apple and Nike the greatest laggards.
The S&P 500 index regained 3.42 points to 2,112.34, with telecommunications leading five sectors higher and consumer discretionary the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index gained 3.13 points to 5,063.38.
Apple recovered losses to trade near the flat line. Earlier, the stock briefly gained to touch a new all-time high above $133.60 U.S. a share as the tech giant carried over its acquired momentum from Monday's earnings report.
The company reported quarterly earnings per share of $2.33 U.S. on revenue of $56.08 billion, both above consensus estimates. Apple also said it would expand its capital return program to $200 billion from $130 billion U.S.
Apple closed up 1.8% on Monday ahead of its earnings report. However, a major decline across biotechs weighed on the major indices, which failed to hold Friday's records and closed lower on Monday.
Merck surged more than 5%, on track for its best day since January 2014, to lead gains in the Dow. The firm beat Wall Street's estimates after posting adjusted quarterly profits of 85 cents per share on revenue of $9.4 billion U.S.
Analysts expected the company to report earnings per share of 75 cents on revenue of $9.1 billion U.S.
Senior U.S. defense officials told the media that Iranian Revolutionary guard forces seized a cargo ship, flagged to the Marshall Islands.
According to the officials, the revolutionary forces boarded the vessel in international waters off the coast of Iran and may be taking it to an Iranian port.
The Maersk Tigris, which had no U.S. citizens abroad, was traveling through the Strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf when the incident occurred, a Pentagon spokesman told reporters.
The Fed meeting gets underway Tuesday, with the conclusion and post-meeting statement due Wednesday. A wave of disappointing domestic data since the previous FOMC meeting has spurred economists to downgrade their outlooks for the U.S. economy in 2015.
Investors will be eyeing any comments from the Fed for hints as to when it might hike interest rates.
To be sure, with no press conference on Wednesday, analysts do not expect major news out of the U.S. central bank this week.
The Conference Board consumer confidence survey results for April was 95.2, below expectations of a rise.
The S&P/Case-Shiller's 20-City Composite gained 5% year-over-year in February, compared with a 4.5% increase in January.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries stepped back, raising yields to 1.96% from Monday’s 1.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell three cents to $56.96 U.S.
Gold prices gained nine dollars to $1,212.90 U.S.
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