Equity prices on Tuesday as lower commodity prices and weak Chinese trade data weighed on energy and mining stocks, but defensive stocks rose and the index still held near three-month highs.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index faded 74.44 points to greet noon 13,309.16, threatening the index’s eight-session win streak.
Still, the index has rebounded more than 15% since hitting a low of more than three years in January.
The Canadian dollar reversed 0.56 cents to 74.73 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, which fell 1.8% to $34.08, and Suncor Energy, which declined 1.3% to $34.12.
Copper retreated further from last week's four-month highs and gold dipped 0.2%, hovering just below 13-month high.
First Quantum Minerals tumbled more than 15% to $6.15, while Barrick Gold was down 2.8% at $17.93.
BCE Inc rose 0.8% to $58.03, while Loblaw Companies was up 0.8% at $71.64.
On the economic slate, exports from China tumbled 25.4% in February, compared with the same month last year, while her imports dropped 13.8%.
China is a major consumer of raw materials, much of them Canadian.
Closer to home, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday morning that municipalities issued building permits worth $6.4 billion in January, down 9.8% from the previous month.
The agency attributes this decline to lower construction intentions for multi-family dwellings in British Columbia and Ontario and, to a lesser extent, institutional buildings in Quebec and Alberta.
At the same time, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that the seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 212,594 units in February from a downwardly revised 165,071 units in January. Forecasters had expected 180,000 starts.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.59 points to 570.85
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, with metals and mining tumbling 7.7%, gold lost 3%, materials slid 2.7%.
The half-dozen laggards were lifted by telecoms, ahead 1.2%, consumer staples, charging up 1%, and utilities, advancing 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities on Wall Street held lower in choppy trade Tuesday after weaker-than-expected Chinese trade data renewed concerns about global growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial average slid 43.18 points to 17,030.77, with Caterpillar and Goldman Sachs the greatest contributor to declines.
The S&P 500 docked 12.97 points to 1,988.79, as energy temporarily dipped more than 3.5%.
The NASDAQ index fell 24.63 points to 4,683.62, as Apple traded lower.
China's exports fell 25.4% year-over-year in February, more than expected and the largest since May 2009. The trade surplus was at $32.59 billion U.S. in February, versus analysts' expectations of a $50.15-billion U.S. surplus.
Analysts largely attributed the sharp drop in the data to a slowdown in business activity around the early February Lunar New Year holidays. Exports for the first two months of the year were still down 17.8% and imports off 16.7% from the same period last year.
The data also showed China's February crude oil imports jumped 20% on year to their highest ever on a daily basis, driven by import quotas and stockpiling.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained sharply, lowering yields to 1.82% from Monday’s 1.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $1.25 a barrel to $36.65 U.S.
Gold prices swooned $1.48 to $1,265.85 U.S. an ounce.
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