Equities in Canada’s largest centre fell on Tuesday as financial stocks pulled back ahead of Britain's vote on whether to leave the European Union, but shares of energy companies rebounded despite oil prices continuing to slip
The S&P/TSX Composite plunged 120.94 points to greet noon at 13,872.94
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.03 cents to 77.92 cents U.S.
The heavyweight financials group slipped as worries about a potential British exit saw investors push yields on German government debt into below zero for the first time.
Royal Bank of Canada fell 1% to $77.74, Toronto-Dominion Bank declined 0.5% to $56.26, and Bank of Nova Scotia lost 0.5% to $64.66.
Opinion polls show growing support for Britain to leave the EU, which investors worry could tip the bloc into recession.
The move lower was offset by energy stocks, which climbed overall after sharp declines in recent days.
The most influential gainers included Canadian Natural Resources, which rose 1.4% to $37.31, and pipeline company TransCanada Corp, which advanced 0.7% to $55.22.
TransCanada said on Monday that it would build and operate a $2.1-billion natural gas pipeline in Mexico.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 5.64 points to 710.23
All but one of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, with metals and mining being bruised 5.1%, materials down 2.7%, and gold sliding 2.4%.
The lone gainer was in telecoms, up 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower Tuesday, amid declines in oil prices, as investors looked ahead to the Fed meeting and the U.K. vote on whether to leave the European Union.
The Dow Jones Industrials declined 84.09 points to 17,648.39, with Home Depot and American Express contributing the most to declines.
The S&P 500 lost 9.08 points at 2,069.98. Financials traded more than 1% lower to lead most S&P 500 sectors lower.
The NASDAQ faded 23.17 points to 4,825.27, despite rise in shares of Apple in mid-morning trade. Shares of Yahoo had also jumped more than 2.2%
Retail sales rose a more-than-expected 0.5% in May. Ex-autos, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales rose 0.4%
Import prices rose 1.4%, their largest gain in more than four years, while export prices jumped 1.1% in May. Business inventories rose 0.1% in April.
In other economic news, the National Federation of Independent Business survey said its small business optimism index rose 0.2 points to a reading of 93.8 last month, remaining below the 42-year average of 98.
The Federal Open Market Committee kicked off its two-day meeting Tuesday and Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to hold a press conference at the meeting's conclusion Wednesday afternoon. The central bank is also set to release its statement and summary of economic projections.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dipped, raising yields back to Monday’s 1.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave back 57 cents a barrel to $48.31 U.S.
Gold prices reversed gears and lost $1.60 to $1,285.30 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
