Canada's main stock index took faltering steps out of the gate on Tuesday, as stalled Greek debt talks raised concerns about the global economy and pulled down commodity prices, a bearish sign for mining and energy stocks.
The S&P TSX Composite Index began Tuesday down 96.44 points to 12,425.26, following Monday’s 120-point-plus gain
The Canadian dollar sifted off 0.35 cents to 98.82 cents U.S.
On the earnings front, Canadian National Railway Co. announced it is raising its quarterly dividend by 15% to 37.5 cents per share, starting with the next payout in March.
CN generated a profit of $592 million or $1.32 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2011, as revenue rose 12% from a year before to a record $2.38 billion. Its shares were up 1.5% in pre-market trading in New York.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported this morning that retail sales continued their hot streak in November, rising for the fourth straight month, this time by 0.3% to $38.7 billion. In all, seven of 11 subsectors reported growth.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped 11.25 points to 1,577.66, while the Nasdaq Canada index retreated 6.59 points to 389.54.
All 14 Toronto subgroups were down after the day’s first hour. Materials were off 1.2%, while gold and information technology suffered 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks opened in the red Tuesday as investors awaited progress on Greek debt talks and waded through another batch of corporate results.
The Dow Jones Industrials began the session down 54.30 points to 12,654.50
The S&P 500 fell 6.13 points to 1,309.87, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 6.88 points to 2,777.29.
Meanwhile, investors pondered another round of corporate results, including Dow components Verizon, McDonald's, Johnson & Johnson and Travelers. Following Tuesday's trading day, tech leaders Apple and Yahoo will announce their results.
Following their fourth-quarter earnings reports, Coach and Harley-Davidson shares rose.
Meanwhile, Texas Instruments and Regions Financial shares slipped after their results were announced.
Travelers shares slumped and DuPont shares fell. Shares of Verizon fell after the phone company missed earnings expectations by a penny a share.
McDonald's beat earnings and revenue forecasts, but shares dipped slightly. Though Johnson & Johnson fell short on revenue, shares gained ground.
After the close, Apple is expected to post earnings of $10.08 U.S. a share, a steep rise from the $6.43 U.S. it reported a year earlier.
Yahoo earnings are projected to be unchanged from the 24 cents U.S. per share posted in the fourth quarter of 2010. The Web portal announced last week that company co-founder Jerry Yang resigned from its board of directors and all other positions at the company.
U.S. stocks closed flat Monday, with no major economic reports or company data for investors to chew on.
Anxiety remains about the European debt crisis and, in particular, Greece's ongoing negotiations with representatives of private-sector creditors to reduce its debt burden.
A deal is a key condition for Greece to receive additional bailout funds from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Without this financial support, Greece may not be able to make a €14-billion debt payment due March 20.
Economically speaking, the International Monetary Fund will release its World Economic Outlook later Tuesday.
The Federal Reserve is scheduled to start a two-day meeting, and will release forward-looking forecasts for the federal funds rate for the first time ever on Wednesday. The government also releases its first estimate of fourth-quarter economic growth on Friday.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note were static, likewise, yields were unmoved from Monday’s 2.07%.
Oil for February delivery dropped $1.04 to $98.54 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery fell $13.50 to $1,664.80 U.S. an ounce.
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