Stocks in Canada’s largest market moved into negative territory by midday and stayed there by the close, mostly on the weakness of discretionary and industrial issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite tailed off 8.95 points to conclude Tuesday at 14,778.32.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.15 cents to 74.7 cents U.S.
Consumer discretionary stocks weighed on the market heaviest Tuesday, as Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers slid 65 cents, or 1.4% to $45.73.
Industrial stocks were lower, too, as Canadian National Railways reversed $1.11, or 1.3%, to $83.21, while rival Canadian Pacific dipped $2.84, or 1.5%, to $188.90
Utilities skidded, most notably Hydro One, down 17 cents to $24.30, while Fortis dropped 63 cents, or 1.4%, to $43.52.
Health-care stocks, on the other hand, soared, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals rocketed $7.24, or 30.2%, to $31.18, while Canopy Growth galloped 45 cents, or 6.9%, to $7.00
Gold stocks popped, too, as Barrick Gold moved skyward $1.06, or 4.5%, to $24.66, while Iamgold acquired 19 cents, or 3.5%, to $5.56.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported real gross domestic product inched ahead 0.2% in August, following a 0.4% gain in July. The agency said the output of goods-producing industries rose while service-producing industries were essentially unchanged.
The RBC Markit Manufacturing PMI nosed upward to 51.1 in October, following a 50.3 reading in September
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange surged 6.79 points to 779.56
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups closed lower, as consumer discretionary stocks lost 1.1%, industrials were down 0.8%, and utilities slid 0.7%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, galloping 6.4%, gold, jumping 2.7%, and materials, hiking 1.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Tuesday, the first trading day of the month, as recent election news and a Federal Reserve meeting sent jitters through the market.
The Dow Jones Industrials gave back 105.32 points to end Tuesday at 18,037.10, with Pfizer leading decliners and Chevron the top advancer.
The S&P 500 moved down 14.43 points at 2,111.72, momentarily breaking below 2,100 for the first time since early July, with real-estate falling 2% to lead decliners.
The NASDAQ composite index dropped 35.56 points to 5,153.58.
In corporate news, earnings season continued, with Dow component Pfizer reporting weaker-than-expected results, while Coach posted in-line earnings and sales below consensus.
Mergers and acquisitions totaled more than $300 billion U.S. in October, with AT&T agreeing to buy Time Warner for more than $85 billion U.S.
According to experts, 70% of the 328 S&P 500 components that had reported as of Tuesday morning exceeded expectations, while 55% beat revenue estimates.
Meanwhile, on the election front, market expectations that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would win were thrown into flux last week, when FBI Director James Comey said in a letter the agency was looking into new emails related to the former Secretary of State.
An NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll released Monday afternoon showed Clinton's six-point lead over Republican nominee Donald Trump remains virtually unchanged.
In economic news, the October read on the Markit manufacturing PMI came in at 53.4, above September's number of 51.5. The ISM manufacturing index for October met expectations at 51.9, while construction spending data for September missed consensus.
Investors also kept an eye on the Fed, as the central bank began a two-day meeting Tuesday. While the central bank is largely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at this meeting, market expectations for a December rate hike are more than 70%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields back to Monday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices removed nine cents to $46.77 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $16.20 to $1,289.30 U.S. an ounce.
