Equities in Canada’s largest market fell on Tuesday, dragged down by shares in mining and energy companies as bullion and crude oil prices weakened.
The TSX tumbled 65.19 points to move into mid-morning Tuesday at 18,654.03.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.30 cents at 79.12 cents U.S.
Canadian health officials said they would stop offering AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to people aged under 55 and require a new analysis of the shot's benefits and risks based on age and gender.
B2Gold docked 35 cents, or 6.1%, to $5.35, while Pretium Resources fell 33 cents, or 2.5%, to $12.91, to prove the biggest decliners on the TSX.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Exchange Income Corp, which jumped $1.71, or 4.3%, to $41.09, and pot producer Aphria, which rose 15 cents to $21.52.
On the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that the total number of payroll employees in January was 1.2 million (or 7%) lower than in February 2020.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 10.4 points, or 1.1%, to 925.43.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower late morning Tuesday as materials swooned 1.4%, utilities lost 0.6%, and communications tumbled 0.5%.
The two gainers were financials and health-care each eked up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as a jump in bond yields prompted investors to dump high-flying tech shares.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off Tuesday’s morning lows, but remained in negative country by 38.68 points to 33,132.69. Monday, the index reached a new all-time high.
The S&P 500 subtracted 9.47 points, to 3,961.62.
The NASDAQ Composite backpedaled 45.67 points to 13,013.98. Apple and Microsoft slid more than 1%. Tesla fell more than 2%.
ViacomCBS and Discovery both rebounded on Monday after registering heavy losses last week prompted by Archegos Capital Management selling large blocks of stock late last week.
Some bank stocks also bounced back. Goldman Sachs climbed 2.2%. JPMogan and Bank of America rose more than 1% each.
Credit Suisse and Nomura posted heavy losses this week after warning of "significant" hits to first-quarter results following the hedge fund’s selling.
Still, despite the recent volatility, the Dow is firmly higher for the month 7.2%, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.2%.
Investors digested a reading on consumer confidence that far exceeded expectations. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index surged in March to 109.7, its highest reading in a year. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the index to rise to 96.8 from 90.4 in February.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys fell, raising yields to 1.75% from Monday’s 1.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost their grip on 80 cents to $60.76 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slouched $29 to $1,685.60.
