Stocks in Canada’s biggest centre opened lower on Tuesday, with mining and energy names leading the declines on lower commodity and resource prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 29.32 points to open Tuesday at 15,158.08
The Canadian dollar plummeted 0.76 cents to 80.44 cents U.S.
Barrick Gold Corp said it would sell 50% stake in its unit that manages the Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea to China's Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd for $298 million in cash.
The unit, Barrick Niugini, owns 95% in the Porgera mine and the Papua New Guinea government owns the rest. Zijin and Barrick will jointly control Barrick Niugini after the sale, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter. Barrick shares dipped 36 cents, or 2.4%, to $14.76.
Canaccord Genuity upped the target price on Asanko Gold to $2.80 from $2.50, with a speculative buy rating. Asanko shares dipped four cents, or 2%, to $1.94.
CIBC started coverage on Kinaxis Inc with an outperform rating; target price $40.00, expecting the company to increase both revenue and earnings per share by at least 20% annually. Kinaxis soared 96 cents, or 3.2%, to $31.16.
Canaccord Genuity started coverage on Klondex Mines with a buy rating, and a $5.00 target price. Klondex shares were unchanged at $3.30.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped two points to 698.09
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower to begin the day, with gold slumping 1.6%, materials falling 1.1%, and utilities off 0.6%.
The five subgroups that did gain ground were headed by health-care, up 0.6%, while information technology and consumer discretionaries each gained 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower on Tuesday as investors eyed renewed strength in the U.S. dollar and a slew of data releases following the Memorial Day holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 150.64 points to begin a short week at 18,081.38, with UnitedHealth the greatest laggard and Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson the only advancers.
The S&P 500 index slid 13.62 points to 2,112.44, with information technology leading all 10 sectors lower.
The NASDAQ demurred 42.08 points to 5,047.28. Information technology led declines in the S&P 500, with First Solar,Autodesk and Hewlett-Packard the greatest laggards.
Earnings out on Tuesday included AutoZone before market open, withWorkday and TiVo due after the bell.
In corporate news, Charter Communications said it would purchaseTime Warner Cable for $55 billion, valuing each share around $195.71. The deal merges the second and third largest U.S. cable companies and creates a greater rival for Comcast Corp.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Cisco Systems in a $64-million U.S. patent infringement verdict the company is fighting.
Qualcomm has struck a mobile technology partnership with automaker Daimler, involving the recharging of mobile devices as well as electric cars.
Apple named senior vice president of design Jony Ive to the newly created position of Chief Design Officer.
BlackBerry will lay off an unknown number of workers in its device business, according to Re/Code.
Priceline Group will invest an additional $250 million U.S. in Ctrip.com, the China-based online travel company.
Housing data showed improvement. New home sales for April showed an increase of 6.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 517,000, up from the consensus 510,000.
The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 5% in March on a year-over-year basis, matching February's gain. The March reading topped a Reuters poll of economists that forecast a rise of 4.7%.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence report was 95.4 in May, above the revised April read of 94.3.
Markit's Purchasing Managers Index for the services sectors fell for a third straight month in May to 56.4 from April's final read of 57.4.
Before the bell, durable goods for April showed a decline of 0.5%, roughly in-line with expectations. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 1% last month after an upwardly revised 1.5% increase in March.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields slightly to 2.19% from Friday’s 2.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 89 cents a barrel to $58.83 U.S.
Gold prices fell $15.40 to $1,189.50 U.S. an ounce.
