Equities in Toronto subsided after Tuesday's opening bell, as energy stocks plummeted over lower oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 136.58 points to begin Tuesday at 21,044.20
The Canadian dollar faded 0.31 cents to 77.97 cents U.S.
Thousands of workers at Canadian Pacific Railway have threatened to strike starting Wednesday, potentially disrupting the movement of grain, potash and coal at a time of soaring commodity prices.
CP shares lost 17 cents to $98.04.
National Bank of Canada upped the price target on Hardwoods Distribution to $79.50 from $79.00. Hardwoods shares fell 71 cents, or 1.8%, to $39.69.
Citigroup raised the rating on Ivanhoe Mines to buy from neutral. Ivanhoe shares gained 11 cents, or 1.1%, to $10.20.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Loblaw Companies to $119.00 from $111.00. Loblaw shares dropped 89 cents to $113.65.
Economically speaking, the Canadian Real Estate Association said home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems climbed 4.6% between January and February.
Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales rose 0.6% in January mostly due to higher sales of petroleum and coal product and wood products.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported the trend in housing starts was 251,579 units in February, down from 253,864 units in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange backtracked 5.46 points to 812.11.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the minus category to start the day, with energy falling 4.6%, materials docking 1.2%, and gold down 0.7%.
Consumer discretionaries proved one gaining group, adding 1.2%, while information technology was the other, up 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Tuesday as oil prices continued to drop further below $100 and a reading of wholesale inflation came in lighter than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 158.47 points to begin Tuesday at 33.103.71.
The much-broader index ducked back 31.2 points to 4,173.11.
The NASDAQ Composite stumbled 262.59 points, or 2%, to 12,581.22.
The gains came as traders continued to eye the latest with ceasefire negotiations in Ukraine and China COVID lockdowns that could wreak havoc on tech supply chains. Investors were also reluctant to commit capital ahead of a big Federal Reserve monetary decision Wednesday, where the central bank is expected to hike rates for the first time since 2018.
The drop in oil prices put pressure on energy stocks. Halliburton, Occidental Petroleum and Schlumberger each lost more than 4%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund was down 3.7%, on pace for its third straight negative day and its worst day since November.
Airline stocks got a boost after several companies raised their revenue outlooks. Delta and United rose about 6%. Southwest gained 4%.
A surge in energy prices in February led wholesale goods prices to their biggest one-month jump on record, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday. The headline producer price index (PPI) rose 0.8% in February from the previous month. While that was slightly lower than the 0.9% estimated by Dow Jones, it still showed a 10% gain from the same time last year.
However, core PPI, which excludes food, energy and trade services, rose just 0.2%. That was below the expectation of 0.6%.
In Ukraine, the capital city of Kyiv announced a 35-hour curfew that begins at 8 p.m. local time following Russian missile strikes that hit several residential buildings in the city. Russia and Ukraine were set to continue talks Tuesday, following a fourth round of negotiations Monday. Meanwhile, Russia is approaching a series of deadlines to make payments on its debt.
China is also facing its worst COVID outbreak since the height of the pandemic. Shenzhen, a major city in a key manufacturing hub in China, has shut down nonessential businesses and imposed city-wide testing, raising concern over the global economic recovery going forward.
Treasury prices, picked up ground, weighing yields to 2.09% from Monday’s 2.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices descended $7.67 to $95.34 U.S. a barrel.
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