Equity shares in Toronto dipped in early trade on Tuesday, as health-care stocks sought to pull it under and energy and mining stocks were trying to keep it afloat.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 40.30 points to open Tuesday’s session at 14,703.03
The Canadian dollar spiked 0.58 cents to 81.16 cents U.S.
Talks on Iamgold’s possible purchase of AngloGold Ashanti Ltd's stakes in two gold mines in Mali are moving along well but there is no urgency to do a deal, AngloGold's chief executive said on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, AngloGold announced the sale of a Colorado-based gold mine for $820 million, helping it get most of the way to its goal of reducing its debt load by at least $1 billion. Shares in Iamgold gathered a nickel, or 1.9%, to $2.73.
CIBC raised the target price on Aecon Group Inc. to $16.00 from $15.00 following the company’s decision to sell off stake in Quito International airport.
Aecon shares zoomed 58 cents, or 4.4%, to $13.65.
CIBC cut the target price on Bonterra Energy Corp to $42.50 from $44.00 after the company announced a non-brokered private placement.
Bonterra shares gained 39 cents, or 1.2%, to $32.49.
CIBC cut the target price on Sandvine Corp to $3.50 from $4.00 saying that the company expects flat sales in 2015.
Sandvine shares gave back six cents, or 1.5%, to $3.94.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.33 points to 685.05.
Eight of the 14 TSX subgroups fell, most notably health-care, down 1%, while consumer discretionary and information technology stocks slid 0.9%.
The half-dozen laggards were led by metals and mining, up 2.1%, energy, up 1.5%, and gold, up 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Tuesday as higher bond yields weighed and investors sought further insight on the timing of a rate hike from economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 23.53 points to open at 17,743.02, as Caterpillar, Exxon Mobil and Chevron led blue-chip gainers.
The S&P 500 index faded 3.89 points to 2,075.39, with energy leading eight sectors higher and information technology and consumer discretionary the only laggards.
The NASDAQ lost 30.23 points to 4,991.40
Early on Tuesday, yogawear retailer Lululemon Athletica reported that its quarterly profit had more than doubled, thanks to a 6% rise in total comparable-store sales.
After the close, index giant MSCI announces its decision on whether or not to include Chinese A-shares in its emerging market index.
On the economic scene, wholesale inventories showed an increase of 0.4% in April, above expectations of a 0.2% rise.
The Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey showed 5.376 million job openings in April. The report was expected to show continued strength in the labour market. A strong read would further solidify the case for a September short-term interest rate hike.
U.S. small business confidence increased to a five-month high in May of 98.3, the highest since December, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. .
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dipped, raising yields to 2.44% from Monday’s 2.38%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.70 a barrel to $59.84 U.S.
Gold prices tacked on $5.30 at $1,178.90 U.S. an ounce.
