Canadian stocks fell hard on Tuesday as investors couldn’t dismiss their fears about the outcome of the U.S.-China trade negotiations later this week.
The TSX Composite Index plummeted 127.8 points to finish Tuesday at 16,293.95
The Canadian dollar moved lower 0.06 to 75.07 cents U.S.
Energy moved backward, as Encana sank 39 cents, or 6.5%, to 5.62, while Cenvous Energy staggered 59 cents, or 5.2%, to $10.81
In the consumer discretionary area, Canada Goose Holdings doffed $2.83, 5.4%, to $49.98, while The Stars Group slipped $1.40, or 5.1%, to $26.01.
Among techs, Shopify flopped $18.15, or 4.2%, to $415.84, while BlackBerry gave back 28 cents, or 4.1%, to $6.51.
Gold tried to balance things out, as Alacer Gold gained 25 cents, or 4.4%, to $5.89, while B2Gold recovered 22 cents, or 4.9%, to $4.67.
In materials, Endeavour Mining climbed 72 cents, or 2.9%, to $25.38, while First Majestic Silver added 43 cents, or 3.4%, to $13.10.
In health-care, Extendicare gained 26 cents, or 2.9%, to $9.13, while Canopy Growth took on 41 cents, or 1.4%, to $30.30.
On the economic calendar, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported September housing starts trended toward 223,507 units, compared to 218,782 units in August,
Meantime, Statistics Canada says the value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities rose 6.1% to $9.0 billion in August, largely because of increases in multi-family and industrial permits.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 3.45 points to 552.67
Seven of the 12 Toronto subgroups capsized, as energy faltered 3.5%, consumer discretionary docked 1.4%, and information technology dipped 1.2%.
Among the five subgroups that did make headway, gold triumphed 2.2%, materials picked up 1%, and health-care improved 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday as investor optimism around the upcoming U.S.-China trade talks faded.
The Dow Jones Industrials plunged 313.98 points, or 1.2%, to 26,164.04
The S&P 500 collapsed 45.73 points, or 1.6%, to 2,893.06
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 132.52 points, or 1.7%, to 7,823.78
Bank shares fell broadly. Citigroup, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase slid more than 1% each as rates declined. The S&P 500 industrials sectors pulled back more than 1.6%, led by declines in Caterpillar and Deere.
Big tech shares such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet declined as well. Semiconductor stocks dropped sharply. Nvidia, On Semiconductor, Qualcomm and Nvidia were among the biggest decliners
Bloomberg News also reported the White House is looking to limit Chinese stocks within government pension funds. Alibaba and JD.com U.S.-listed shares fell more than 3.5% each.
On the data front, U.S. producer prices posted their biggest drop in eight months in September, dragged down by lower costs for goods and services. Producer prices are an indicator of inflation and a decline could give the Federal Reserve more room to ease monetary policy.
The South China Morning Post reported China is toning down its expectations ahead of trade negotiations with the United States. The report said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He — who will lead the country’s trade delegation — will not carry the title of “special envoy,” signaling he has not received any specific instructions by President Xi Jinping. U.S.-China trade talks are set to start Thursday.
The U.S. also expanded its trade blacklist to include some of China’s top artificial intelligence firms on Monday, punishing Beijing for its treatment of predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. China’s foreign ministry said to “stay tuned” for retaliation following the blacklist expansion.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury moved upward, lowering yields to 1.53% from Monday’s 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices descended 47 cents to $52.28 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $6.20 to $1,510.60 U.S. an ounce.
