Markets in Canada’s biggest centre hit a more than 15-week low on Tuesday as crude oil prices fell to their lowest since 2009, leading to broad retreats in the resource-linked market.
The S&P/TSX composite index remained negative 99.66 points – slightly off its lows of the morning --- to greet noon at 12,943.17, still its weakest point since Aug. 24.
That August low came in the midst of a global market rout that pulled Chinese stocks down 9% and sent commodity prices tumbling. The index has been under 13,000 points only once since then and before that not since October 2013.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.50 cents to 73.58 cents U.S.
Royal Bank of Canada fell 1.5% to $74.28, and Toronto-Dominion Bank declined 1.2% to $53.42. Manulife Financial Corp lost 1.7% to $21.46.
Canadian Pacific Railway declined 4% to $169.10 after it revised its bid for Norfolk Southern Corp and was promptly rejected again.
Rival Canadian National Co fell 1.5% to $72.87.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc added 2.1% to $127.02. Sources said that the company was seeking potential buyers for its specialty contact lens manufacturing division.
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 0.33 points to 506.96.
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower midday with metals and mining slumping 2.8%, industrials dipping 2%, and utilities down 1.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower Tuesday as investors eyed oil prices and softness in China trade data, ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting next week.
The Dow Jones industrial average stumbled 143 points to 17,587.51, with Boeing and Goldman Sachs contributing the most to losses in mid-morning trade.
The S&P 500 shed 12.03 points to 2,065.04, with industrials leading nine sectors lower and health care the only advancer.
The NASDAQ index fought to within 9.78 points of breakeven to 5,092.03.
Qualcomm briefly 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, Reuters said. The chip maker also said the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission opened an investigation into its patent licensing deals.
Apple held slightly lower after dipping more than 1%.
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 2.22% from Monday’s 2.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 23 cents a barrel to $37.88 U.S.
Gold prices picked up $2.49 to $1,073.83 U.S. an ounce.
