Equities in Canada’s largest centre weighed downward at the start of business on Tuesday, as investors refrained from making big bets ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision.
The TSX bowed 43.51 points to begin Tuesday’s session at 19,127.05.
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.11 cents to 80.56 cents U.S.
Canadian National Railway on Monday raised its annual forecasts for profit and volume growth, hoping that vaccine rollouts would accelerate an economic recovery and boost shipments for the country's biggest railroad operator.
CN shares loosed 84 cents to $135.59.
Haywood Securities raises the rating on Altura Energy to "buy" from "hold". Altura shares were static at 16.5 cents.
National Bank of Canada resumed analysis on Dream Industrial REIT with an "outperform" rating. Units of Dream gained eight cents to $13.66.
The federal government said on Monday it backed the use of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19 vaccine despite reports of rare blood clots, noting the issue had first been identified in doses made by AstraZeneca Plc.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 4.96 points to 948.35.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, with information technology foundering 0.9%, while gold and consumer staples each gave back 0.6%.
The three gainers were energy, ahead 0.5%, real-estate, stronger by 0.3%, and industrials, 0.1% to the good.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell slightly on Tuesday as investors braced for a big batch of tech earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 32.44 points to 33,949.13.
The S&P 500 docked 4.27 points to 4,183.35, from Monday’s record close.
The NASDAQ Composite declined 37.44 points to 14,101.34, from Monday’s record close.
Shares of Tesla fell 4% even after the electric carmaker posted record net income of $438 million. Tesla also beat Wall Street’s earnings and revenue expectations handily, boosted by sales of bitcoin and regulatory credits. The shares have struggled this year, off by more than 18% from their record. Though the stock is still up 360% over the last 12 months.
UPS shares soared over 9% after earnings blew past Wall Street estimates. The company said first quarter revenue was up 27%.
The first-quarter earnings season kicks into high gear on Tuesday with key tech companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft and AMD reporting after the bell.
So far, with about a third of the S&P 500 having reported numbers, 84% of companies have turned in a positive earnings surprise. However, stock moves have been relatively muted following the strong results with the market standing at record levels with high valuations.
GameStop’s stock jumped more than 6% after the video game retailer said it sold 3.5 million additional shares, raising $551 million to speed up the company’s e-commerce transformation.
Apple and Facebook earnings follow on Wednesday after the bell.
The Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is not expected to take any action, but economists expect it to defend its policy to let inflation run hot. The latest surveys see the central bank staying on hold and keeping its asset buying program in place at the same levels for the rest of 2021, despite growing concerns about an overheating economy.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were lower, raising yields to 1.59% from Monday’s 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 65 cents to $62.56 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices advanced $2.50 to $1,782.70 U.S. an ounce.
