Canada's main stock index was little changed on Tuesday, with weakness in resource shares overcoming a gain in banks as investors seeking clues about the future of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus program focused on Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional testimony on Wednesday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slid 26.78 points to break for lunch at 12,501.57
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.38 cents to 96.28 cents U.S.
Shares of energy producers gave back ground despite a rise in the price of oil. In the group, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd was down almost 1% at $32.68, and Suncor Energy Inc fell 0.4% to $32.18.
The materials sector was little changed as a jump in shares of gold miners was offset by weakness in Potash Corp.
Potash, the world's biggest fertilizer producer, slipped 2.2% to $40.39 and played the biggest role of any single stock in leading the index lower. It fell after rival fertilizer company Mosaic Co reported a lower quarterly profit on Tuesday as phosphate and potash prices slipped.
Gold plays were lifted by higher bullion prices. Barrick Gold Corp added 2% to $16.01.
Financials, climbed as Royal Bank of Canada, the country's biggest bank, advanced 0.4% to $62.50.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales hiked 0.7% to $48.6 billion in May, that figure’s second gain in five months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange perked 7.15 points to 903.88
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower, with consumer discretionaries and health-care each down 0.9%, consumer staples off 0.7%.
The four gainers were led by gold, up 3.5%, while materials and metals and mining each gained 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were little changed Tuesday morning as investors digest the latest corporate results and await testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke due later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 37.63 points to 15,446.70 midday.
The S&P 500 index dipped 7.81 points to 1,674.69. The NASDAQ Composite was off 10.22 points to 3,597.27
Investors are waiting for Bernanke's semi-annual testimony to Congress on monetary policy Wednesday. They will keep an eye on corporate earnings Tuesday as a number of big firms report quarterly results.
Coca-Cola shares slipped 2.3% after the company reported a drop in profit from a year earlier due to weak European sales.
Goldman Sachs fell slightly even after the Wall Street firm said that its quarterly earnings doubled from a year earlier, with a boost from investment banking.
Johnson & Johnson shares were flat after the healthcare company announced a jump in quarterly sales but a decline in earnings. Yahoo will report its second-quarter results after the market close.
In other corporate news, shares of Baidu, the leading Chinese language Internet search engine, surged nearly 5% after the company announced that it has signed a $1.9-billion U.S. acquisition proposal to buy all equity interests from NetDragon.
In economic news, the Consumer Price Index increased 0.5% in June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists had expected the government's key inflation measure to rise 0.3%.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 2.54% from Monday’s 2.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lopped off 10 cents to $106.22 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $6.90 to $1,290.40 U.S. an ounce.
