Canadian stocks opened slightly higher on Tuesday after the TSX index scaled six-year highs in the previous sessions.
The S&P/TSX composite index crept up 6.28 points to begin Tuesday at 14,877.49
The Canadian dollar grew 0.01 cents to 91.71 cents U.S.
Canadian employers are looking to hire at a modestly improved pace in the third quarter, suggesting growth in the labour market will continue to plod along, according to a survey by ManpowerGroup Inc.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers cut its 2030 Canadian oil production forecast on Monday, citing growing uncertainty over the timing of development of some oil sands projects due to rising costs and lack of available capital.
Gold stocks started strong, with Barrick Gold up 1.6% to $17.69. Base metals listed downward in the early going, however, with Copper Mountain Mining fading 1.3% to $2.22.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked ahead 0.54 points to 987.99
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower, with global base metals dropping 0.4%, while information technology and industrial stocks each drooped 0.2%.
The five gainers were led by gold, up 1.3%, materials, up 0.8%, and the metals and mining group, gaining 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street's chances for a five-day winning streak are in doubt Tuesday morning as stocks open on a cautious note following a streak of record closing highs.
The Dow dumped 40.84 points, to 16,902.26 from Monday’s all-time high
The S&P 500 shed 5.98 points to 1,945.29, and the NASDAQ composite index dropped 13.83 points, to 4,322.41
Shares of eBay fell 2% as investors fret over the departure of David Marcus, the head of its PayPal division, who is leaving for Facebook.
Earlier this week Amazon launched a new service that's expected to go head-to-head with PayPal. It will allow customers to automatically pay recurring charges, such as phone bills, with their Amazon accounts.
RadioShack is struggling to find any signs of life and currently trades under $1.50 U.S.-- almost penny stock territory. The company plummeted about 6% after disclosing a loss and plunging same-store sales due to traffic declines and softness in its mobility business.
While RadioShack noted progress in its turnaround, the company warned it may need to raise more capital, slash costs or sell assets if current trends continue or worsen.
Shares of Netflix climbed 1% after the company reportedly buried the hatchet with Internet providers such as Verizon over slow streaming video.
General Motors shares may also move depending on developments at the automaker's shareholder meeting. In recent weeks, the stock has been resilient despite ongoing recalls and PR problems.
Tesla, a notoriously volatile stock, may be worth watching as the company's founder and CEO Elon Musk holds a SpaceX event in Washington later today.
Meanwhile, Burlington Stores bounced 4% after announcing a bump in quarterly profits but warning of red ink in the current quarter.
The battle over the maker of Botox also continues to boil, with Allergan rejecting a sweetened buyout bid worth $53 billion U.S. from Valeant Pharmaceuticals and activist hedge fund investors Bill Ackman. Allergan is trading about flat after once again concluding the offer "substantially undervalues" the company.
Chico's spiked 10% after the Financial Times reported the women's retailer has huddled with private-equity firms in recent weeks about a possible buyout.
Meanwhile, Time Warner is reportedly negotiating a deal to acquire a stake in Vicethat would value the young media brand at more than $2 billion U.S. Time Warner shares are flat in morning trading.
Merck announced earlier this morning that it was going to acquire Idenix Pharmaceuticals, a hepatitis C drug producer for $24.50 U.S. a share (a deal worth nearly $4 billion U.S.). Merck shares are flat while Idenix stock is up an eye-popping 231%.
Achillion Pharmaceuticals, another hepatitis C drug manufacturer, is up nearly 60%, suggesting it might also be an M&A target. One in 100 Americans has chronic hep C infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
In other merger news, Tyson Foods announced its plans to acquire Hillshire Brands for $63 U.S. a share, ending its bidding war with Pilgrim's Pride for the maker of brands like Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm.
Tyson stock is down about 5.5%, Hillshire stock is up the same amount. Pilgrim's Pride shares are trading just under 6.5% lower.
Hedge fund manager Carl Icahn of Icahn Enterprises announced a 9.3% stake in Family Dollar on Friday after the bell. Now the whole discount retail sector is drawing excitement.
In response to Icahn's purchases, Family Dollar's board announced this morning a "shareholder rights plan" aimed at preventing a hostile takeover and contingent on someone buying a 10% or greater stake in the company.
Family Dollar shares are up about 14% in afternoon trading. Rival retailer Dollar General is up over 7% as investors consider whether Icahn may push for the two companies to merge. Shares of Dollar Tree are flat after trading as high as 3% higher earlier in the day.
Apple's seven-for-one stock split went into effect today. The tech giant is issuing more shares to existing investors in order to bring down the price of the stock and bring in more retail investors. Apple stock closed at about $646 U.S. Friday, but started trading today at $92.70 U.S. this morning. Shares bounced around most of the day and were up just over 1.5%.
Time Inc., the magazine publisher of Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated and other titles, began its first day of trading after being spun off from TimeWarner. Shares were down about 1.8%.
After a surge in late trading on Friday, K-Cup coffee company Keurig Green Mountain was about 6.5% lower, giving almost all of those gains on lower volume.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were flat early Tuesday, keeping yields at Monday’s 2.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices up three cents to $104.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid 30 cents at $1,253.60 U.S. an ounce.
