The Toronto stock market came off its earlier losses Tuesday, as a record-high price of gold offset weakness in other commodities and some fresh concerns about the health of European banks.
The S&P TSX Composite Index ended the day down 42.94 points to 12,101.98, ending eight straight sessions in the green.
Gold issues gained strength, particularly, shares in Barrick Gold Corp., which added 92 cents, or 2%, to $48.01.
Among financials, shares in Bank of Nova Scotia lost 62 cents to $52.32 after the bank said it is introducing a separate global wealth management division.
The energy sector fell, as shares in Suncor Energy Inc. fell 43 cents to $33.47.
The base metals sector also suffered, as the December copper contract fell 2.95 cents to $3.47 U.S. per pound.
Shares in HudBay Minerals Inc., however, gained a penny to $15.33.
Elsewhere in corporate news, shares in Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. fell 52 cents to $23.48 after Casey’s General Stores rejected the convenience store chain’s latest takeover offer and said it has decided to conduct negotiations with another suitor offering $40 U.S. in cash per share.
Private equity firm Onex Corp. said it has agreed to acquire the remaining 75% of U.S. in-home care firm ResCare that it doesn’t already own for $340 million U.S. Shares in Onex lost 62 cents to $28.43.
And Toronto-based miner Marathon PGM Corp. saw its stock soar by $1.79 or 95.2% to $3.67 after it agreed to be taken over by Stillwater Mining Co. for $118 million U.S.
The Canadian dollar eased 1.11 cents to 95.47 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower on the day. Metals and mining stocks weighed most heavily, slumping 2%, followed by global base metals, off 1.2% and energy stocks, down 1.1%.
The five gainers were led by health-care issues, up 3.4%, gold, up 1.3%, and materials, inching ahead 0.5%.
The TSX Venture Exchange fared much better, adding 29 points to 1,594.96, while the Nasdaq Canada index remained behind 4.15 points to 570.39.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks fell Tuesday as renewed worries about European banks weighed on financial stocks and investors flocked to such safe-haven assets as the dollar, bonds and gold.
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 107.24 points, or 1%, to end the day at 10,340.69.
The S&P 500 index weakened 12.67 points to 1,091.84. The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index slid 24.86 points to 2,208.89
During last week's stock rally, the Dow turned positive for the overall year. But Tuesday's losses quickly turned the index back into the red.
On Friday, the major indexes rose more than 1%, after a government report showed fewer jobs were lost in July than economists had expected. U.S. markets were closed Monday for Labour Day.
Shares of Oracle gained 5.5% after the business software maker said it has hired former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd as its president. Later in the day, HP filed suit to block Hurd from the taking the job.
Meanwhile, Barclays’ shares sank 5.6% after the British bank announced its CEO John Varley will retire March 31. Bob Diamond, the bank's U.S.-born president and investment banking chief, will replace Varley.
Fears that European banks may be in worse shape than what recent financial stress tests indicated spooked investors, according to some experts
The renewed worries came after an analysis in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal that said Europe's stress tests -- aimed at measuring the health of the continent's financial sector -- understated major banks' holdings of government debt.
Financial stocks sank after the report, with American Express leading the way with 3.5% losses and Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase both falling more than 2%. Shares of Bank of America also fell 1.6%.
President Obama will introduce a new $200-billion U.S. tax cut on Wednesday that will allow businesses to write off all new investments in equipment made between now and the end of 2011.
Treasury prices gained ground, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to 2.61% from 2.71% Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil stumbled 88 cents to $73.72 U.S.
Gold prices rallied six dollars to $1,257 U.S. an ounce.
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