Equity markets in Canada’s largest centre opened virtually unchanged on Tuesday, as speculation swirled about how soon the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin scaling down its bond-buying.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up only 2.96 points to start out Tuesday at 13,358.39
The Canadian dollar gained 0.10 cents at 95.49 cents U.S.
RBC raised the price target on Bankers Petroleum to $5 from $4.50 following the company's steady production and cash flow growth. The tidings had no effect on Bankers’ stock price, however, which remained still at $3.95.
Barclays raised the price target on Ensign Energy Services to $21 from $20, saying the company's global fleet of high quality rigs should benefit from the shift towards unconventional drilling in North America. Ensign shares dipped five cents to $17.28.
National Bank Financial raised the price target on GuestLogix to $2.25 from $1.75, following the company's better-than-expected third-quarter results. GuestLogix shares inched up three cents to $1.22 shortly after the open.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subsided 0.36 points to 935
Six of the 10 TSX subgroups began the day down, weighed by materials, health-care and consumer staples stocks each down 0.3%.
The four gainers were led by information technology, up 0.4%, while consumer discretionary issues gained 0.2%, and telecoms picked up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks are still hovering near record highs but the bull seemed to be taking a bit of a breather on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded 6.07 points from Monday’s all-time high finish, at 15,777.
The S&P 500 index edged up 1.28 points to 1,771.89. The NASDAQ gave back 7.82 points to 3,911.97
Stocks have surged this year thanks to a slowly recovering economy and continued bond buying from the Fed, leaving the major U.S. indexes sitting at or near record highs. The S&P 500, Dow and NASDAQ are all up more than 20% in 2013.
Stronger than expected reports on third-quarter economic growth and the job market in October have led some economists to expect the Fed to announce it will slow its stimulus program in December.
Otherwise, it's a light day for corporate news and economic releases Tuesday.
Dish Network shares rose nearly 3% after the satellite TV company reported stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, DR Horton, one of the nation's largest home builders, rose about 2%, after reporting earnings in line with Wall Street's expectations.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries faded, raising yields to 2.76% from Friday’s 2.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Treasury markets were closed Monday for Veterans Day.
Oil prices slumped 56 cents to $94.58 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices chopped $1.60 to $1,279.50 U.S. an ounce.
