Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday as weakness in oil prices led to declines in energy stocks and dip in gold prices dragged the materials sector lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index retreated 56.89 points to greet noon Tuesday at 15,156.56
The Canadian dollar spiked 0.73 cents at 78.15 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Interfor, which rose $1.10, or 4.9%, to $23.68, while the largest decliner was Prometic Life Sciences, down four cents, or 5.4%, to 70 cents
Among the most active Canadian stocks by volume were Prometic, as well as Neovasc Inc., down 2.5 cents, or 33.3%, to five cents, and Aurora Cannabis, faltering 37 cents, or 4.1%, to $8.70.
Mexico's economy minister said on Monday that his country, the United States, and Canada have made significant advances on reworking the North American Free Trade Agreement and ministers will meet in the coming days to determine the scope to agree on the basics of a deal
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange came off its lows of the morning, climbing to within 5.82 points of the breakeven point to 777.81
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups remained negative by noon, with gold off 1.9%, consumer staples slumping 1.1%, and materials sliding 0.9%.
The four gainers were led by consumer discretionary stocks, up 0.5%, energy, better by 0.4%, and real-estate, up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as technology shares tried to cut sharp losses from the previous session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered 107.65 points to 23,751.84, with UnitedHealth as the best-performing stock in the index.
The S&P 500 improved 10.72 points to 2,592.60, with tech rising slightly and consumer staples leading.
The NASDAQ Composite index moved higher 22.43 points to 6,892.55
The moves Tuesday come after Wall Street tumbled on the first trading day of April and the second quarter. On Monday, the Dow sank more than 450 points, with the 30-stock index hitting a new low for the year. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ closed in correction territory amid the possibility of a trade war, and fears surrounding the tech industry.
Netflix shares rose 0.4% while Amazon gained 0.3% in volatile trading, while Facebook alternated between gains and losses.
Tech has been the best-performing sector in the S&P 500 sector over the past 12 months, rising 23% through Monday's close. But the sector has been under pressure recently because of growing concerns the space could be hit with regulation.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell back, raising yields to 2.78% from Monday’s 2.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 36 cents a barrel to $63.37 U.S.
Gold prices lost $11.00 to $1,335.90 U.S. an ounce.
