Canada's main stock index slipped on Tuesday in a broad decline due to weak sentiment after the country failed on Friday to reach a deal with the United States to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index came off their lows of the morning, but remained negative 56.79 points to move up towards noon hour ET at 16,206.09
The Canadian dollar faded 0.52 cents to 75.86 cents.
Among financials, Bank of Nova Scotia dipped 18 cents to $75.35, while Royal Bank of Canada was unchanged at $103.66, and Toronto-Dominion Bank fell four cents to $78.61.
The largest percentage gainers and most heavily traded stocks on the TSX were cannabis companies. Canopy Growth Co jumped $5.00, or 8.4%, to $64.64, and Aphria Inc rose $1.14, or 6.7%, to $18.12.
Tahoe Resources fell 91 cents, or 20.3%, the most on the TSX, to $3.58, after Guatemala's highest court upheld the suspension of licenses at Tahoe's Escobal mine, one of the world's biggest silver mines, and at the company's smaller Juan Bosco mine.
The second biggest decliner was First Quantum Minerals, which fell a dollar, or 6.1%, to $15.37.
Among consumer discretionary stocks, Canadian Tire fell 69 cents to $162.58.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday notified Congress of his intent to sign a bilateral deal with Mexico, after contentious talks with Canada ended without a deal to revamp NAFTA.
On the economic beat, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped fractionally to 56.8 in August, from 56.9 in July, to signal the weakest overall improvement in business conditions since May.
The agency goes on to say slower new business growth was the main factor weighing on the headline index in August. Nonetheless, the latest reading remained well above the long-run survey average of 53.0.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 2.82 points to 721.89
All but one of the 12 subgroups remained red by noon, with gold slipping 2.2%, materials, down 1.8%, while consumer discretionary dumped 0.7%.
The lone gainer was in health-care, up 2.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Tuesday as trade tensions between the U.S. and key partners increased, offsetting strong economic data, to start off the one of the toughest parts of the year for equity investors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average staggered 68.44 points to 25,896.38, with Nike and Verizon underperforming.
The S&P 500 subsided 7.12 points to 2,894.40, with telecom and tech stocks lagging
The NASDAQ fell 21.39 points to 8,088.15, led by a decline in Facebook shares.
Stocks are coming off their best August performance in more than four years as the S&P 500 and NASDAQ both reached all-time highs. The Dow, meanwhile, entered September just 2.5% below its record high.
September has historically been a tough part of the year for investors. Since 1950, September has been the worst month for the Dow and the broader S&P 500. The Dow averages a decline of 0.7% while the S&P 500 falls 0.5% on average in September. The NASDAQ, which was introduced in 1971, falls 0.5% on average.
Last week, the U.S. and Canada failed to secure an agreement to replace the current NAFTA pact by last Friday's deadline. While a deal has been arranged with Mexico, President Donald Trump tweeted over the weekend that there was "no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal."
Shares of trade-sensitive company Caterpillar fell 1%, while Boeing dropped 0.3%.
Facebook shares dropped 3% after analysts at MoffettNathanson downgraded them to neutral from buy. The analysts a "toxic brew" of slowing sales growth and regulation risk.
The major indexes pared losses after the release of stronger-than-expected manufacturing data. The Institute for Supply Management U.S. manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 61.3 in August from 58.1 in July. Economists expected the index to fall to 57.7. The overall PMI got a boost from a sharp jump in new orders.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 2.90% from Friday’s 2.87%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired two cents to $69.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $9.50 cents to $1,197.20
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