Toronto's main stock index fell on Tuesday as soaring European bond yields offset strong U.S. retail sales and sparked fears of another recession in Europe, leading financial and resource stocks lower.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved lower by 27.94 points to begin the session at 12,196.25.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.45 cents to 97.95 cents U.S.
Stocks to watch this morning include Bombardier Inc., with whom Turkey's Atlasjet has signed a letter of intent to buy 10 Bombardier CS300 jetliners for $776 million
Sears Canada posted a third-quarter loss, hurt by excess inventories and restructuring costs.
Suncor Energy Inc. said on Monday it resumed normal operations at the 50,000 barrel-a-day Terra Nova field off Newfoundland following a four-week maintenance shutdown.
Sino-Forest Corp., the Chinese timber firm listed in Toronto, said an independent committee found no evidence of fraud at the company, whose share price has been savaged this year following allegations by short-seller Muddy Waters.
Rio Tinto is unlikely to walk away from a bidding war for Hathor Exploration, investors said, after rival bidder Cameco Corp. trumped the global miner with a $625-million offer.
Alliance Grain Traders Inc. posted a massive rise in quarterly adjusted earnings, as the staple food and pulse processor took advantage of increased crop supply, and said it expects the positive export trends to continue into next year.
Azure Dynamics posted a wider third-quarter net loss on higher cost of sales, and the auto component maker said it expects revenue for the year to be at the lower-end of the forecast range.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that September new motor vehicles moved higher 1.5% to 134,389 units, with truck sale hikes making up for fewer passenger car sales.
Elsewhere, manufacturing sales rose 2.6% to $49.2 billion in September, the third straight monthly improvement.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped forward 9.14 points to 1,647.66, while the Nasdaq Canada index inched up 1.14 points to 406.84
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups began the day in negative country. Financials slid 0.6%, industrials were off 0.4%, and telecoms gave back 0.3%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by information technology, up 0.8%, health-care and gold, each picking up 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks slipped at the open on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous day, as fears about the euro-zone debt crisis continued to hang over investors.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 25.65 points to 12,053.33.
The S&P 500 stumbled 3.33 points to 1,248.45, while the Nasdaq Composite Index faded 8.09 points to 2,649.05.
Wal-Mart reported a 1.3% increase in third-quarter same-store sales Tuesday, but posted earnings per share that missed expectations by a penny. Shares of the retail giant dipped.
Shares of Dick's Sporting Goods jumped after the retailer reported stronger earnings than analysts had been expecting, and said same-store sales rose 4.1% for the quarter.
Staples cut its full-year earnings forecast, and posted quarterly results that fell short of expectations. Shares of the company slipped.
European bond yields climbed, following a report indicating that euro-zone economic growth was tepid in the third quarter.
Italy's 10-year bond yield topped 7%, a benchmark that makes traders nervous -- such levels eventually led to bailouts for Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Meanwhile, the 10-year bond yield for Spain, one of several troubled economies in Europe, ticked up to 6.3%.
Economically speaking, retail sales rose 0.5% in October, boosted by strength in electronics and home improvement, the U.S. government said Tuesday. The increase beat expectations of a 0.4% rise, but was lower than the 1.1% gain in the previous month.
A separate government report showed that producer prices slipped 0.3% in October, following a 0.8% rise in September. Analysts polled by Briefing.com expected producer prices to have dropped by 0.2%.
The price on the 10-year Treasury moved higher, driving the yield down to 2.03% from the 2.04% figure Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery regained $1.05 to $98.02 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for December delivery added $4.00 to $1,782.40 U.S. an ounce.
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