Equities north of the U.S. border opened lower on Tuesday, pressured by concerns over the U.S.-China trade war, ahead of a highly anticipated Federal Reserve policy statement.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 20.17 points to open Tuesday at 16,472
The Canadian dollar slid 0.13 cents to 75.85 cents U.S.
Air Canada reported a higher-than-expected profit for the second quarter on Tuesday, as the carrier flew more high-paying passengers, helping it weather the initial impact of the Boeing 737 Max grounding.
Air Canada went slightly airborne, nine cents to $45.18.
Nutrien missed estimates for quarterly earnings and cut its full-year adjusted profit forecast on Monday, as the fertilizer maker struggles with recent floods in the U.S. midwest that delayed planting and a prolonged trade war.
Nutrien spiked $4.03, or 6.1%, to $70.58.
RBC raised the target price on Ivanhoe Mines to $7.00 from $6.00. Ivanhoe advanced inched up two cents to $4.24.
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on Vermilion Energy to $40.00 from $45.00. Vermilion shares retreated three cents to $22.48.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 1.39 points to 589.73
Seven of the 12 Toronto subgroups began the day negatively with consumer discretionary and energy stocks each off 0.6%, and health-care backtracking 0.5%.
The five gainers were led by materials, sprinting 0.9%, while gold advanced 0.5%, and consumer staples inching up 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell at the start of trade Tuesday as a batch of weak corporate results helped to set a downbeat tone on Wall Street, and as investors look forward to the start of a pivotal meeting of the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials dumped 68.63 to 27,152.72
The S&P 500 slipped 13.06 points to 3,007.91,
The NASDAQ slid 40.65 points to 8,252.68
Downbeat earnings have hurt the investing mood thus far after meat-replacement supplier Beyond Meat reported a larger-than-expected loss and announced a stock offering, headlining weakness in a name that has thus far been a darling on Wall Street.
Still, of the 222 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date for the second quarter, some 76.1% reported above analyst expectations, while 17.1% reported below consensus estimates.
That performance is far better than the average of 65% beating estimates and 20% missing since 1994 and in line with performance over the past four quarters, according to the data company.
Apple Inc. will report its results after the closing bell Tuesday. The iPhone maker is on pace for only the second year of negative sales growth since 2001, and hopes for the next generation of iPhones aren’t that high, as analysts expect a 5G version that could spark a larger refresh in 2020.
Procter & Gamble Co. surged 3.3% Tuesday, after the consumer-products company reported a second-quarter adjusted profit and revenue that beat expectations.
Merck & Co. Inc. shares rose 1.5%, after the drug company trounced earnings estimates for the second quarter and raised its guidance.
Trump said in a series of tweets Tuesday that China is not keeping its promise of buying more U.S. agricultural products, adding: "China is doing very badly, worst year in 27 - was supposed to start buying our agricultural product now - no signs that they are doing so. That is the problem with China, they just don’t come through."
China and the U.S. agreed to restart trade talks late last month after they fell through in May.
The Fed will announce its latest decision on whether to adjust interest rates at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury stayed put, keeping yields at Monday’s 2.06%.
Oil prices gained 29 cents to $57.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices grew $5.20 to $1,425.60 U.S. an ounce.
