Canada's main stock index edged lower on Tuesday as energy shares fell ahead of an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump later in the day about the United States' commitment to the Iran nuclear deal.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index came off its lows of the morning, but still registered negative 17.94 points to move into noon hour Tuesday at 15,790.69
The Canadian dollar faded 0.58 cents to 77.02 cents U.S.
The energy sector was the biggest drag on the main index, as oil prices eased from their 3-1/2-year highs. Shares of Canadian Natural Resources fell 3.4% to $43.76, also weighing on the energy group, after Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Shell Gas said on Monday it was selling its entire stake in Canada's largest independent petroleum producer.
Also hurting the main index was the materials sector, which includes precious metals miners, as gold slipped on the back of the dollar, which surged to a new 2018 high.
Among other stocks, Hudson's Bay Co, up three cents to $9.23, is working with investment bankers and consultants to identify deals and new measures to turn around its Lord & Taylor department store chain.
Units of NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT were trading lower by a penny to $11.32 million after the Canadian landlord announced a $312-million strategic investment in Australian hospital operator Healthscope.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Nevsun Resources Ltd, which rose 62 cents, or 16.2%, to $4.44, after the company on Monday rejected proposal from miners Lundin and Euro Sun to acquire all of Nevsun's shares for $1.5 billion.
Westjet Airline, the largest decliner on the index, reported a first-quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates partly hurt by higher fuel prices, sending its shares down $2.18, or 9.9%, to $19.92
Among the most active Canadian stocks by volume were Aurora Cannabis, down 2.4%, to $7.91, after the company posted its third-quarter results.
On the economic beat, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said housing starts were at an annual rate of 214,379 in April, down from March's 225,213.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.99 points to 770.57
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided Tuesday morning, with health-care sprinting 5.3%, information technology, up 1.3%, and consumer discretionary advancing 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, descending 2.5%, utilities, off 0.6%, and gold, sliding 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed on Tuesday as Wall Street braced for President Donald Trump's decision on whether he will pull the United States from the Iran nuclear deal signed three years ago.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained below the breakeven point by 7.02 points to 24,350.30, with Verizon as the worst-performing stock in the index.
The S&P 500 slipped 2.36 points to 2,670.27, as utilities fell 1.3%.
The NASDAQ stumbled 4.97 points to 7,269.25
In corporate news on Tuesday, sources told the media that Comcast is planning an all-cash bid for most of 21-Century Fox's assets if the U.S. government approves AT&T's purchase of Time Warner. Comcast shares slipped 3.4%, while Fox rose 2%.
Stocks briefly jumped after on conflicting reports that Trump will announce new sanctions on Iran, but would not leave the deal. Some media outlets appeared to report that Trump would restore sanctions, marking the first step toward exiting the accord.
The president has threatened numerous times to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran deal unless allies in Europe amend what he sees as shortcomings of the agreement.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell back, raising yields to 2.98% from Monday’s 2.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slumbered $1.86 a barrel to $68.87 U.S.
Gold prices remained lower $3.40 to $1,310.70 U.S. an ounce.
