Canada's main stock index took a breather on Tuesday after hitting a new closing high in the previous session, dragged down by weakness in healthcare stocks, while investors remained cautious ahead of a reading on U.S. inflation later this week.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 22.19 points to greet noon at 21,534.35.
The Canadian dollar subsided 0.14 at 80.21 cents U.S.
Among health-care stocks Cronos Group, down $1.29, or 15.5%, to $7.06. Rival Tilray dumped 25 cents, or 1.6%, to $15.15. However, Aurora Cannabis recovered from its losses and actually pulled ahead five cents to $9.17.
Gains in the tech sector were led by a jump of $3.43, or 9%, by Dye & Durham Limited to $41.55, after multiple brokerages raised the price target of the IT service provider's stock.
The largest percentage gainer on the index was Pretium Resources up $2.65, or 17.6%, to $17.75, after Australia's Newcrest Mining said it would buy the rest of the Canadian gold miner n a $3.5-billion deal.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.74 points to 994.75.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, with consumer staples prospering 0.7%, gold up 0.5%, and utilities ahead 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 1.7%, while consumer discretionaries plunged 0.5%, and financials slid 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell for the first time in nine sessions on Tuesday as investors took some profits after an October rally and awaited key inflation data ahead Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 245.73 points, to break for lunch Tuesday at 36,186.49
The S&P 500 stumbled 26.78 points from Monday’s all-time high at 4,674.92.
The NASDAQ Composite lost 111.23 points to 15,871.13.
Tesla shares dropped 7% as investors sold the leader of the bull market run. PayPal led the losses in financial stocks after the company issued disappointing guidance.
PayPal on Tuesday was the biggest laggard on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, sinking 12%. The digital payments company missed on quarterly revenue expectations and issued weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter and full-year guidance.
On the upside, shares of GE rallied more than 3% after the industrial giant announced it will split into three public companies focusing on aviation, healthcare and energy. The stock led gains on the S&P 500.
Wholesale prices jumped 8.6% in October from a year ago, the hottest annual pace on record in nearly 11 years, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday. The October producer price index rose 0.6% month over month, in line with the Dow Jones consensus estimate. The reading measures the costs of final-demand manufactured goods.
Strong earnings results have also supported stocks in running to new highs. Through Tuesday morning, 459 companies in the S&P 500 have reported quarterly results, with 81% beating earnings estimates.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys strengthened, lowering yields to 1.43% from Monday’s 1.50%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 57 cents to $82.50 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $3.40 to $1,831.40 U.S. an ounce.
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