Uncertainty surrounding possible U.S. military action against Bashar al-Assad's Syrian government helped push Canadian stocks marginally lower on Tuesday.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 37.36 points to begin Tuesday at 12,722.94
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.10 cents to 95.12 cents U.S.
Bank of Montreal's third-quarter profit rose 17% as the Canadian bank benefited from higher insurance income and lower provisions for bad loans. BMO shares inched up three cents to $65.81.
Bank of Nova Scotia's third-quarter profit fell 14% after a big gain from a sale in the year-before period. Scotiabank shares began the day off 56 cents to $58.13.
Niger plans to bid for gold miner Semafo's 80% stake in the Samira Hill mine and to try to take full control of the project, the West African nation's mining assets management company Sopamin said on Monday after Semafo suspended operations at the mine. Semafo shares added five cents to $2.41.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 3.26 points to 951.32.
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower to start Tuesday. Information technology stocks fell 1.2%, while consumer staples and global base metals each skidded 0.9%.
The three gainers were gold, up 1.9%, materials, up 0.7%, and energy, creeping up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Fears over a possible U.S. military strike against Syria spooked investors around the world Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials backtracked 96.07 points to kick off the session at 14,850.40
The S&P 500 index fell 14.24 points to 1,642.54. The NASDAQ plummeted 40.11 points to 3,617.46
Still, Tuesday's selloff was relatively mild. It is expected to be another light day of trading in the late August doldrums. What's more, major U.S. indexes are still up between 14% and 20% in 2013.
Investors moved into assets deemed "safe," pushing up the prices of gold and U.S. and German government bonds. Oil prices also surged on fears in the Middle East.
Shares of jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. rose after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
Shares in struggling department store operator J.C. Penney fell on news that activist shareholder Bill Ackman is selling his entire stake of more than 39 million shares.
Economically speaking, U.S. investors got more good news about the housing market. Prices for homes in the nation's 20 largest cities in June rose 12.1% over the last year. That was down slightly from the previous month, but still shows that housing continues to rebound.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering to 2.76% from Monday’s 2.80%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $2.76 to $108.68 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices zoomed $26.20 to $1,419.30 U.S. an ounce.
