Stocks in Toronto weakened further on Tuesday, hitting its lowest level since August 24, as additional weakness in crude oil prices weighed on the market.
The S&P/TSX composite index scaled down another 101.84 points, to begin the day at 12,940.99
The Canadian dollar fell 0.46 cents to 73.62 cents U.S.
Sources say Valeant Pharmaceuticals is reaching out to potential buyers for its specialty contact lens manufacturing division, Paragon Vision Sciences, amid scrutiny from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Valeant shares dipped 25 cents to $124.22.
Canadian Pacific Railway revised its offer to buy U.S. railroad operator Norfolk Southern, less than a week after its previous offer of $28.4 billion U.S. was rejected.
CP shares collapsed $5.61, or 3.2%, to $170.50.
Royal Bank of Canada says its shift to put more emphasis on corporate investment banking and reduce its reliance on trading should lower the volatility of its capital markets business.
RBC shares dipped $1.11, or 1.5%, to $74.30.
Barclays raised the target on Canadian Natural Resources to $40.00 from $38.00. Natural Resources shares let go of 36 cents, or 1.3%, to $28.44.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Onex Corp to $90.00 from $89.00. Onex shares lost 14 cents to $80.65.
On the economic beat, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported this morning that housing starts reached 208,401 in November, compared to 206,125 in October.
Elsewhere, Statistics Canada told us that municipalities issued $7.7 billion worth of building permits in October, up 9.1% from the month before, and the first increase in three months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regressed 0.58 points to 506.71.
All 13 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour of trading, with metals and mining slumping 3.8%, industrials dipping 2.1%, and materials down 1.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower Tuesday amid a continued decline in oil prices and softness in China trade data.
The Dow Jones industrial average stumbled 173.34 points, or 1%, to 17,557.17, with Chevron and Exxon Mobil together contributing the most to losses.
The S&P 500 shed 19.23 points to 2,057.84. Energy plunged more than 2.5% to lead all S&P 500 sectors lower. The index struggled to hold in positive territory for the year after turning red for the year in opening trade.
The NASDAQ index dwindled 33.09 points to 5,068.72. The NASDAQ was the only major index solidly positive for the year so far.
Qualcomm fell 4% after European Union anti-trust regulators charged the firm with abusing its market power to thwart rivals, putting the world's number one mobile chipset maker at risk of a hefty fine.
The chip maker also said the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission opened an investigation into its patent licensing deals.
Apple traded more than 1% lower, while biotech stocks attempted gains.
In U.S. economic news, the Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey – JOLTS, for short -- showed 5.383 million openings in October, while the September figure was revised slightly higher to 5.534 million. The quits rate held steady from September at 1.9%.
Overseas, Chinese trade data released overnight showed exports declined for the fifth-straight month and imports down a record 13 months. However, the decline in imports was less than expected and slowed from last month. The drop in both imports and exports add to concerns about global growth and a tepid domestic demand-driven recovery.
Reuters noted that China crude oil imports for the first 11 months of the year rose 8.7% to 6.61 million barrels per day, with November crude imports growing 7.6% from the same month a year ago. The news helped oil briefly attempt gains in early morning trade.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained slightly, lowering yields to 2.23% from Monday’s 2.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices let go of 54 cents a barrel to $37.11 U.S.
Gold prices picked up $1.52 to $1,072.86 U.S. an ounce.
