Canadian equities added to their biggest decline in a month on Tuesday, as a renewed selloff in crude sent energy stocks to a three-week low.
The S&P/TSX composite index faltered 91.3 points to close the day at 13,699.60.
The gauge has now trimmed its October advance to 2.8%, still on pace for the biggest monthly increase since February.
The Canadian dollar was punished 0.62 cents at 75.37 cents U.S.
Canadian industrial stocks also slipped Tuesday. Canadian Pacific Railway tumbled 4.7%, the most in two months, to $191.76, and Canadian National Railway Co. lost 2.8% to $79.51 to lead industrial stocks lower. Canadian National was set to report third-quarter earnings after the market close.
Commodities producers retreated, led by declines among oil stocks. Crescent Point Energy Corp. dropped 2.2% to $17.48, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. lost 2.5% to $29.57.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., the drug maker under scrutiny for its accounting and pricing practices, rebounded 0.1% to $145.46 after touching a one-year low Monday.
Bill Ackman, the billionaire activist investor, will discuss his holding in Valeant on a conference call with other investors Friday. Ackman’s fund Pershing Square Holdings Ltd. is Valeant’s third-biggest holder, according to a June 30 regulatory filing.
Shares of Laval, Quebec-based Valeant plummeted 32% last week, the most since 1993, after short-seller Citron Research said Valeant is using Philidor to store inventory and record those transactions as sales. Valeant denied the accusations, saying that sales are recorded only when the drugs are sent to patients.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 4.41 points to 542.46
All but of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower on the day, with industrials going south 3%, metals and mining docking 2.8%, and energy weakening 2%.
The two gainers were gold, up 1.4%, and financials, up 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed mildly lower Tuesday, under some pressure from disappointing data, as investors awaited key earnings reports and Wednesday's Fed statement.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 41.62 points to 17,581.43. The Dow had tried for gains in late-morning trade, boosted by gains in Boeing, but held lower in early afternoon trade as IBM weighed.
The stock extended losses to briefly trade more than 4% lower after IBM disclosed the SEC is conducting an investigation into the firm's accounting treatment of certain transactions.
The S&P 500 dropped 5.64 points to 2,065.54, as energy stocks lagged, following declines in oil.
The NASDAQ index lost 5.9 points to 5,028.81, as Apple gave up an early attempt at slight gains to trade flat.
Traders will also be closely watching Apple's third-quarter earnings report, due after the bell. Shares in the tech giant came under pressure on Monday, falling more than 3% after news that supplier Dialog Semiconductor reported preliminary earnings and guidance that missed expectations, according to Street Account.
Ahead of Apple results, drug makers Pfizer, Merck and Bristol-Myers were among a slew of firms that posted earnings.
Other major reports included Comcast, which matched Street estimates with quarterly profit of 80 cents U.S. per share, while revenue was above estimates. Comcast added 320,000 high-speed internet customers during the quarter, and 156,000 cable customers
DuPont earned an adjusted 13 cents U.S. per share for the third quarter, three cents above estimates. Revenue was well short, however, as a strong dollar and other factors impacted the bottom line. DuPont said it was "not pleased" with the quarter's results.
Alibaba, the China-based internet retail giant beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines, with revenue leaping 32%. The stock gained more than 4%, on track for its fourth-straight day of gains.
JetBlue initially plunged to lead all Dow transports lower, despite reporting quarterly profit that more than doubled from a year earlier.
Passenger revenue per available seat mile, which measures sales relative to the airline's capacity, fell 0.6% in the quarter from a year earlier.
The firm said it expects October passenger unit revenue to fall 2% from a year ago, before recovering later in the year.
UPS also declined after reporting an increase in earnings but a slight decline in revenue, hurt by the strong U.S. dollar. The firm reiterated its full-year earnings outlook.
Twitter, Gilead Sciences, Shutterfly, Owens-Illinois, Panera Bread, Equity Residential, KKR and TransUnion all are due to report after the close.
In other corporate news, shares of Starwood Hotels spiked on a Dow Jones report that at least three big Chinese firms are competing to gain government approval to bid for the hotel operator.
Shares of Rite Aid spiked 40% on a Wall Street Journal report that Walgreens Boots Alliance is close to a deal to buy the drugstore chain.
On the economic slate, durable goods orders showed a decline of 1.2% in September, following a negative read in August.
The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite showed U.S. home prices rose 5.1% from the year-ago period in August, matching analyst expectations.
Consumer confidence came in at 97.6 for October, missing expectations.
The Federal Reserve also began its two-day meeting at which it is expected to hold off on an interest rate rise. The central bank releases its post-meeting statement at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, and it is expected to leave the door open for the chance of a December rate hike.
The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model for real GDP growth in the third quarter was lowered to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.8% on Tuesday, down from 0.9% last week.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.04% from Monday’s 2.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices eased 79 cents a barrel to $43.19 U.S.
Gold prices hiked $3.76 to $1,166.80 U.S. an ounce.
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