The Toronto stock market seemed stuck in a holding pattern as the clock approached noon ET Tuesday, amid fresh indications that the euro-zone economy continued to mend.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved lower 16.83 points, to greet noon at 15,198.43.
The Canadian dollar got bruised 0.55 cents at 91.15 cents U.S.
Meanwhile, the Canadian earnings season remains in high gear with reports out this week from a variety of major corporations, including Tim Horton's, telecom BCE Inc. and retailer Canadian Tire.
One sector of particular interest involves insurers -- three majors report, including Great West Lifeco, Manulife Financial and Sun Life Financial.
Insurers were a major casualty of the 2008 financial crisis as gains in stock markets withered and bond yields sank but now they are close to 52-week highs.
On Monday, The Second Cup Ltd. suspended its quarterly dividend as the coffee shop chain says it looks to focus on growth to maximize shareholder value.
The company posted a second-quarter adjusted profit of eight cents per share versus 14 cents a year ago.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 3.81 points to 996.82
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon, led by telecoms, up 1%, while consumer staples and global base metals each advanced 0.9%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care stocks, down 2.5%, while gold suffered 1.7% and materials slid 1.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The jitters are back in the stock market, with negative readings as of midday Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 70.80 points to 16,498.48
The S&P 500 lost 8.91 points to 1,930.08. The NASDAQ composite docked 14.69 points to 4,369.20.
There's big retail and media news that investors are weighing as they try to figure out whether to buy or sell.
Target reported that its holiday-season credit card breach cost $148 million U.S., to be offset with $38 million U.S. in insurance money. The company also lowered its guidance for the second quarter's earnings, which come out on August 20. Its stock is down more than 2%, making it one of the worst performers in the S&P 500.
Jamba Juice reported a strong quarter off the back of its new program where customers can mix in popular "superfoods" like kale, beets and chia seeds. The initiative started out in California earlier this year, and the company thinks the craze is the key to new growth. The stock is up 11%.
Meanwhile, S&P 500 laggard Whole Foods is up 5% leading the index for the day on speculation that activist investor Carl Icahn will soon take a stake in the company.
Gannett, which publishes USA Today, announced it would spin off its print assets, which include that newspaper and others across the U.S. The company follows in the path of a number of other media companies separating their print businesses from the more valuable TV and digital properties.
The company also said it would buy up the part of auto sales search engine Cars.com it doesn't own for $1.8 billion U.S.
Gannett's stock is flat. As a reminder for why Gannett is making the move, Time Inc., which publishes magazines Time, Fortune and People among others, released its first quarterly report since the spinoff. It lost $32 million U.S. on $820 million U.S. in revenue, and both numbers were worse than the same time last year. The stock is flat.
Purse and accessory maker Coach impressed investors with a better-than-expected quarter, but Wall Street's bar was set very low. Sales and profits did not fall as much as anticipated from the same time last year, but they still declined. North American sales dropped 16% in that time, though increasing international sales softened the blow. The stock is up over 4.5%.
A couple of conflicting economic reports aren't helping cheer investors up. The Institute of Supply Management released data that said American manufacturing is gradually expanding, but data provider Markit released similar figures for the service sector that said things weren't moving much either way.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were lower, raising yields to 2.51% from Monday’s 2.50%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 97 cents to $97.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices weakened $3.70 to $1,285.20 U.S. an ounce.
