Equities in Canada’s largest market opened lower on Tuesday, dragged down by weaker oil prices as surging coronavirus cases globally raised demand concerns.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index backed off from Monday’s gains by 42.29 points to 16,119.04.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.19 cents at 74.77 cents U.S.
CIBC raised the target price on Airboss of America to $33.00 from $23.00. Airboss shares acquired 75 cents, or 3.2%, to $24.40.
CIBC raised the target price on Canfor Corp. to $19.00 from $17.00. Canfor shares were unchanged early Tuesday at $16.40.
National Bank of Canada raised the price target on First National Financial to $33.00 from $29.00. First National jumped $1.77, or 6%, to $31.30.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nicked ahead 0.82 points to 709.93.
The 12 TSX subgroups were divided evenly, with health-care surging 1.6%, while information technology and consumer staples each climbing 0.3%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, down 2.2%, materials, stumbling 1.8%, and energy, off 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell slightly on Tuesday as lawmakers continued their debate over the next coronavirus relief while traders pored over the latest batch of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials subtracted 139.33 points to open at 26,445.04.
The S&P 500 dumped 12.07 points to 3,227.34.
The NASDAQ slipped 59.54 points to 10,476.73.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled the Republican coronavirus relief plan Monday after the bell. The legislation would include relief for jobless Americans, another direct payment to individuals of up $1,200, more Paycheck Protection Program small business loan funds, among other provisions.
McConnell said the bill would set federal unemployment insurance at 70% of a worker’s previous wages, replacing the $600 per week which states stopped paying out this week.
The bill comes as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the U.S. So far, more than 4.2 million infections have been confirmed along with at least 147,303 deaths in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University.
Stocks were also under pressure after the release of disappointing quarterly numbers from McDonald’s and 3M.
McDonald’s shares slid nearly 2% after the fast-food giant posted a quarterly profit that missed analyst expectations along with a 30% drop in overall revenue. 3M, another Dow component, dropped 4.8% after its quarterly earnings and revenue were lower than expected.
Visa, Advanced Micro Devices, Amgen, eBay, Mondelez International and Starbucks report after the bell on Tuesday. This is the busiest week of the corporate earnings season, with about 170 companies slated to report.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve starts its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, followed by an interest rate decision on Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0-0.25% at its last meeting in June as it continued to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the U.S. economy.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 0.59% from Monday’s 0.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost 47 cents to $41.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added three dollars to $1,934.00 U.S. an ounce.
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