Stock markets in Toronto experienced another fall on Tuesday – after a hefty collapse Monday -- as the slide in oil prices showed no sign of easing.
The S&P/TSX composite index eased 51.51 points to open Tuesday at 14,341.19
The Canadian dollar settled 0.19 cents to 84.85 cents U.S.
Major automakers reported their best ever Canadian sales performance last year, with Ford holding on to the top sales spot for 2014, despite a late surge by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Canadian unit.
CIBC cut price target on Bank of Montreal to $86.00 from $87.00. BMO shares gave back 77 cents to $79.94.
CIBC raised the price target on RBC, however, to $88.00 from $86.00. Shares in RBC dipped 29 cents to $78.59.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that its Industrial Product Price Index dropped 0.4% in November, mainly because of lower prices for energy and petroleum products.
The agency’s Raw Materials Price Index declined 5.8% in November, mostly due to lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 4.25 points to 689.74
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were to the good in the first hour of trading, with gold soaring 2.5%, while the materials and metals and mining groups each improved 1.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by consumer staples and financials, each down 0.9%, and utilities, off 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were mixed at first on Tuesday, a day after the market's biggest rout since October, as considered reports that offered a mixed view on the momentum of U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials eked up 12.81 points to 17,514.46, with Merck & Co. leading blue-chip gains.
The S&P 500 dropped 37.62 points to 2,020.58, with health-care leading sector gains.
The NASDAQ index fell 74.24 points to 4,652.57.
AOL rallied in early New York trading after Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter in reporting Verizon Communications had approached the search engine about a potential deal or joint venture.
Economically speaking, a measure of the service sector came in below expectations in December, and factory orders fell 0.7% in November versus a forecast of a 0.8% dip.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries hiked, lowering yields to 1.98% from Monday’s 2.04%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 99 cents per barrel to $49.05 U.S.
Gold prices spiked $6.70 an ounce at $1,210.70 U.S.
