Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday as the energy sector tumbled with oil prices and Bank of Nova Scotia declined after the lender announced job losses.
The S&P/TSX composite index plummeted 140.74 points or 1%, to greet noon at 14,477.30
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.28 cents to 87.76 cents U.S.
Scotiabank, Canada's number-three lender, said it was cutting about 1,500 jobs and booking a pre-tax charge of $451 million, mainly due to bets that have soured in the Caribbean and South America. The stock dropped 1.2% to $67.97.
Among energy shares, Canadian Natural lost 3.3% to $37.03, and Suncor dropped 3% to $37.40.
TransCanada was little changed after the pipeline company posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit, helped by higher earnings from its Keystone and Mexican pipelines.
Among financials, Royal Bank of Canada climbed 0.7% to $80.60.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 15.32 points to 750.78.
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower by midday, with energy trailing 4.1%, metals and mining, down 2.5%, and gold, sliding 1.6%.
The four gainers were led by telecoms, up 0.9%, health-care, up 0.8%, and information technology, ahead 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks declined on Tuesday, a day after benchmarks rose to records, as the price of oil slid to a three-year low, intensifying concerns about a slowing global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials inched higher 0.19 points to 17,366.43
The S&P 500 dropped 7.94 points to 2,009.87. The NASDAQ index lost 26.61 points to 4,612.30.
Alibaba Group Holding after the Chinese e-commerce giant posted its first quarterly results as a public company; Office Depot rose after the retailer tallied its first first quarterly profit in four and hiked its adjusted full-year operating income forecast;
Sprintdeclined after the wireless carrier reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, and Michael Kors Holdings dropped after the clothing retailer projected quarterly earnings and revenue beneath estimates.
JPMorgan Chase also weighed on the Dow after the bank disclosed the Department of Justice was conducting a criminal probe of its foreign-exchange business.
The Commerce Department reported U.S. factory orders fell 0.6% in September.
A separate report Tuesday had the trade gap expanding in September as exports slowed from a record, illustrating the impact of softer global growth on the U.S. economy.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained bit, lowering yields to 2.33% from Friday’s 2.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices plummeted $2.18 to $76.60 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked $3.80 to $1,167.80 U.S. an ounce.
