Stock indexes see-sawed in early trade on Tuesday, helped by a rise in shares of Canadian National Railway after it avoided a workers' strike and gains for gold miners, while energy stocks weighed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 12.09 points to open Tuesday at 15,409.82
The Canadian dollar moved downward 0.15 cents at 74.08 cents U.S.
Bank of Nova Scotia beat expectations for second-quarter results, helped by a strong performance in its international and investment banking business.
Scotiabank shares acquired 62 cents to $76.74
Canadian National Railway on Monday said it had reached a tentative agreement with a union representing 3,000 conductors, ahead of a looming strike deadline at Canada's largest railroad.
CN shares gained 39 cents to $103.77.
JP Morgan raised the rating on Teck Resources to overweight from neutral. Teck shares sprang up 45 cents, or 1.8%, to $25.40.
RBC raised the target price on Boyd Group Income Fund to $105.00 from $94.00. Boyd units plummeted $1.87, or 1.9%, to $96.69.
CIBC cut the rating on DragonWave Inc. to underperform from outperform.
Shares in DragonWave retreated two cents, or 1.1%, to $1.08.
On the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that its industrial product price index rose 0.6% in April, mainly due to higher prices for energy and petroleum products. StatsCan also said its raw materials price index hiked 1.6% in April, mainly as a result of higher prices for crude energy products.
Elsewhere, the agency reported that Canada's current account deficit (on a seasonally adjusted basis) widened by $2.3 billion in the first quarter to $14.1 billion. In the financial account, large foreign investment in Canadian corporate securities led the net inflow of funds into the economy.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 0.96 points to 810.70
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, with telecoms and consumer discretionary shares each climbing 0.4%, while materials tacked on 0.3%.
The three laggards were energy, dipping 1.2%, while information technology and financials each skidded 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded mixed on Tuesday as investors digested key economic data, while tech stocks continued to rally.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 36.35 points to open Tuesday at 21,043.93, with Chevron contributing the most losses.
U.S. stock markets were closed Monday because of the Memorial Day holiday.
The S&P 500 settled 2.94 points to 2,412.88, with energy leading decliners, but a slight gain in the information technology helped cap losses. Tech has been on fire this year, rising nearly 20%.
The NASDAQ nicked higher by 1.59 points to a new record of 6,211.78, as shares of Amazon broke above $1,000 for the first time.
Economically speaking, personal income south of the border rose 0.4% in April, in line with expectations, and consumer spending increased by 0.4%. The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, rose 0.2%.
Meanwhile, U.S. home prices rose 5.8% in March, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.
Other data set for release Tuesday include consumer confidence and Dallas Federal Reserve manufacturing data for May.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground, lowering yields to 2.23% from Friday’s 2.25%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 70 cents to $49.10 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices retreated $4.80 at $1,266.60 U.S. an ounce.
