Canada's main stock exchange retreated on Tuesday in a broad decline led by the Bank of Nova Scotia, which reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit, and a selloff in shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 140.01 points, to greet noon at 15,124.04
The Canadian dollar, on the other hand, hiked 0.51 cents to 80.28 cents U.S.
Valeant fell 1.3% to $251.72 after jumping 3.5% to a record close in the previous session due to recent acquisition moves. The overall healthcare sector was down 0.4%.
Bank of Nova Scotia was down 1.6% at $65.87 after reporting the disappointing results. Higher provisions and a softer performance in its investment banking unit hurt business, the company said. Overall, the heavily weighted financials group was down more than 1%.
Energy companies, the lone bright spot on the index, were up 0.9%. Shares of Canadian Oil Sands Ltd gained 2.4% to $11.06. The company reported late on Monday that crude oil production at Syncrude Canada's oil sands operation was up 3.4% from January.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported this morning that December’s Gross Domestic Product kept rolling in the final quarter of 2014, after a 0.8% jump in Q3. Monthly real GDP increased 0.3% in December.
The agency also reported that its industrial product price index declined 0.4% in January, largely as a result of lower prices for energy and petroleum products, while its raw materials price index faded 7.7% in January, lower energy prices again the main culprit.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lopped off 0.93 points to 703.37
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were down midday. Metals and mining slipped 1.9%, materials sank 1.8%, and gold shone 1.4% less brightly.
Energy stocks, as noted, proved the lone gainer, up 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks pulled back from recent records to trade lower on Tuesday, as investors weighed auto sales that missed expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrials stepped back 130.69 points to greet noon at 18,157.94, with Microsoft and Cisco the greatest laggards as nearly all blue chips declined. Boeing led advancers with gains of more than 1%.
The S&P 500 slid 16.54 points to 2,100.85, with health-care leading declines.
The NASDAQ index moved backward 43.98 points to 4,964.12.
U.S. stocks closed at records on Monday, with the NASDAQ above 5,000 for the first time since March 2000. The Dow and S&P 500 set new records.
General Motors said U.S. February sales climbed 4% to 231,378, slightly below analysts' expectations of 233,707. Ford's sales dropped 2% to 180,383, missing expectations of 194,872. Fiat Chrysler posted an increase of 6% to 163,586, also narrowly below estimates. Nissan's sales were up 3% to 118,436, compared with estimates of 121,183.
Best Buy earned an adjusted $1.48 U.S. per share for its latest quarter, beating estimates by 13 cents, though revenue was slightly below forecasts. Best Buy also declared a special dividend of 51 cents U.S. per share, and increased its regular quarterly dividend by 21% to 23 cents U.S. per share.
Dick's Sporting Goods earned an adjusted $1.30 U.S. per share for its latest quarter, eight cents above estimates, with revenue also above forecasts. Dick's said it expected to earn $3.10 to $3.20 U.S. per share for 2015, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 U.S.
AutoZone reported quarterly profit of $6.51 U.S. per share, 13 cents above estimates, with revenue also above consensus. Domestic same-store sales were up 3.6% from a year earlier.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were unchanged, keeping yields at Monday’s 2.08%.
Oil prices gained 74 cents to $50.33 U.S.
Gold prices faded $5.10 an ounce to $1,203.10 U.S.
