Canadian stocks are plunging to an eight-month low Tuesday morning, on heavy selling in the energy space amid mounting worries over demand prospects.
Financial, industrial and consumer discretionary stocks are tumbling as well, with another round of gloomy economic news from the euro zone prompting investors to indulge in some heavy selling.
Investors are largely shrugging off fairly buoyant quarterly earnings reports from JP Morgan Chase and the CitiGroup.
U.S. financial giant JP Morgan reported third quarter earnings of US$5.6 billion or US$1.36 share, against a loss of US$380 million or 17 cents a share, in the year ago period.
Citigroup reported adjusted third quarter earnings of $1.15 per share on revenues of $19.6 billion, while analysts had expected earnings of $1.12 per share on revenues of $19.05 billion.
The bencmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 188.60 points or 1.32 percent at 14,039.00, after declining to 13,977.73, the lowest level since 14 February 2014.
On Friday, the index closed down 233.24 points or 1.61 percent at 14,227.36, after scaling a intraday high of 14,438.45 and a low of 14,188.75. The index shed 3.8 percent last week.
The Financial Index is down 1.3 percent with the big six banks declining 0.8 to 1.4 percent.
Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) said that a Delaware Chancery Court judge directed the bank to pay the stockholders of Rural/Metro Corp. a sum of $75.8 million representing 83 percent of the total damages that the class suffered.
Insurance stocks Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO) and Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF.TO) are lower by around 1.75 percent.
The Energy Index is down 3.4 percent. Talisman Energy (TLM.TO) is down over 6.5 percent, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) is declining 5.5 percent and Encana Corporation (ECA.TO) is down 4.3 percent.
Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Canadian Oil Sands Limited (COS.TO), ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX.TO), Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG.TO), Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.TO) are lower by 2 to 3.5 percent.
The Industrials Index is declining 2.4 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP.TO) is down 4 percent. The company has reportedly approached CSX Corp (CSX) about merging the two railroad operators.
Canadian National Railway Company (CNR.TO), WestJet Airlines Ltd. (WJA.TO), Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (BIN.TO) and Stantec Inc. (STN.TO) are down 2 to 4 percent.
The Consumer Discretionary Index is down 1.6 percent. Amaya Gaming Group Inc. (AYA.TO) is plunging over 8 percent and Magna International Inc. (MG.TO) is declining more than 4 percent.
The Healthcare Index is down 1.5 percent, dragged down by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX.TO) which is down by over 4 percen. Extendicare (EXE.TO) and Catamaran Corporation (CCT.TO) are down marginally.
The Information Technology Index is down by a little over 1 percent. Sierra Wireless, Inc. (SW.TO), Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) and DH Corporation (DH.TO) are declining 2 to 3 percent, while Wi-LAN Inc. (WIN.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO) and Constellation Software Inc. (CSU.TO) are lower by 1 to 1.5 percent.
The Diversified Metals & Mining Index is down 0.4 percent. Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (TRQ.TO) is declining 2.3 percent, while Capstone Mining Corporation (CS.TO) is down 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, Sherritt International Corporation (S.TO) is rising 2.7 percent, Nevsun Resources Ltd. (NSU.TO) is advancing 2.1 percent and Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) is adding 0.5 percent.
Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) is unchanged. On Friday the company priced its offering of US$1.0 billion of senior secured notes in two tranches, US$550 million of 7.5% Senior Secured Notes due 2020 and US$450 million of 7.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2022.
The Capped Materials Index is up 1.75 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM.TO) is climbing 5.3 percent, Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) is moving up nearly 5 percent, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) is rising over 4 percent, Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW.TO) is advancing 2.8 percent and Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) is up nearly 2 percent.
Semafo Inc. (SMF.TO) shares are up 5.5 percent. Orbis Gold Limited (OBS) said Monday that it rejected an offer from Semafo Inc. (SMF.TO) stating that it undervalues the company.
In commodities, crude oil futures for November are down $1.46 or 1.62 percent at $84.32 a barrel, amid continued worries over demand growth prospects.
The International Energy Agency, which has revised downward its demand forecast for oil for 2014, has predicted just a modest rise in global oil demand in 2015.
Natural gas for November is down $0.053 or 1.37 percent at $3.863 per million btu.
Gold futures for December are up $3.30 or 0.27 percent at $1,233.30 an ounce.
Silver for December is up $0.032 or 0.18 percent at $17.377 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper is up $0.036 or 1.17 percent at $3.077 per pound.
In economic news from the euro zone, German investor sentiment declined for a tenth successive month in October to enter the negative territory for the first time in nearly two years.
Data from Eurostat showed that the decline in euro zone industrial production for August was worse-than-expected.
Meanwhile, Germany's economy ministry today cut its growth forecasts for this year and next, citing weaker demand in export markets due to rising geopolitical tensions and sluggish global growth.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com