Canada's main stock index inched lower Tuesday morning with gold stocks keeping a lid on gains in marijuana stocks as investors once again piled into that sector.
Shares of Canopy Growth Corporation were surging, up 9.36 percent to 43.59.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 6.00 points Monday to 16,311.65.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.031 cents to 80.30 cents U.S.
In corporate news -- Blackstone Property Partners is buying Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust in an all-cash deal valued at about C$2.48 billion, the Canadian REIT said on Tuesday. Blackstone’s offer of C$8.10 per Pure Industrial’s unit represents a premium of 20.5 percent to its closing price on Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s No. 2 bank, on Tuesday said it bought Layer 6 Inc, an artificial intelligence (AI) company for an undisclosed sum.
Canadian housing starts fell in December, as expected. A sharp decline in multiple unit urban starts outweighed a rise in single-detached starts, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed on Tuesday. December’s decline bucked a strong year for homebuilding, with total urban starts up 6.2 percent from 2016. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts declined to 216,980 in December from November’s downwardly revised 251,675. Economists had expected a decline to a 212,500 annual rate.
Global oil markets extended gains ahead of what could prove to be critical inventory data from the United States later this week. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.49% on Tuesday to $62.03 a barrel.
Gold prices on Tuesday retreated for a second day in a row as the U.S. dollar remained buoyant along with global equities, undercutting the appeal of the haven asset. February gold fell $4.40, or 0.3%, at $1,316 an ounce.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was ahead 16.30 points, or 1.77%, to 937.34 in early action Tuesday.
Nine of the TSX subgroups traded positive Tuesday morning -- with health-care issues surging 4.21%, base real estate stocks ahead by 0.76% and energy issues up 0.52%.
On the downside -- gold stocks were off 1.30%, while material issues backtracked 0.90% and telecom stocks shed 0.39%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock opened modestly higher Tuesday, setting a series of intraday records and helping the Dow industrials resume a record-setting run that has left it up 27% over the past year.
Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on 64 points, or 0.3%, to 25,346, while S&P 500 index gained 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,752. Nasdaq Composite Index added 9 points, or 0.1%, to 7,166.
Target Corp. shares rose 2.6% after the retailer joined a handful of its peers that have reported positive comparable-store sales growth in the holiday period between November and December, driven by strong traffic and e-commerce sales. The big box chain reported on Tuesday, Jan. 9, comp growth of 3.4% and an expected 25% growth in digital sales.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s stock traded 0.1% lower after the Chinese e-commerce giant’s founder, Jack Ma, promised to consider listing in Hong Kong.
Shares in Intel Corp. traded flat after CEO Brian Krzanich delivered a speech at CES late Monday. He detailed advances in virtual reality and other technologies, while also addressing the dark cloud hanging over chip makers.
The yield for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed to its highest level in 10 months on Tuesday. The 10-year note yield rose 4 basis points to 2.520%, its highest since March 17.
