Canada’s main stock index slipped on Tuesday, with gold miners weighing as bullion hit its lowest level since 2010 and energy stocks also lower as crude oil prices slid.
The S&P/TSX composite index lurched lower 37.13 points to close the session at 13,280.39. Monday saw the end of an eight-session losing streak, when the index gained more than 200 points.
Still, the TSX has lost 8.7% this year, trailed only by Singapore and Greece among developed markets.
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.11 cents at 75.12 cents U.S.
Among financials, Bank of Nova Scotia added 0.7% to $60.54, and Toronto-Dominion Bank moved higher by 0.6% to $54.29 as the nation’s largest lenders advanced a second day. The banks will report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings beginning Dec. 1.
Of the more than 200 companies in the S&P/TSX to report in the current period, about 60% missed revenue estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Gold stocks were bruised, as Barrick Gold fell 8.7% to $9.29, Goldcorp declined 5.2% to $15.22, and Yamana Gold Inc was down 7.1% to $2.37.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. lost 4.3% to $93.57, extending a two-year low. Valeant, briefly the largest stock in Canada by market capitalization this year, has lost almost 75% from an Aug. 5 high amid pressure over how it prices its drugs.
The embattled drug maker’s latest product, the female libido pill Addyi, isn’t selling with only 227 prescriptions for the drug so far in its first few weeks on the market. By comparison, more than half a million men got prescriptions for Viagra in its first month on sale in 1998.
Shopify Inc., the Ottawa-based e-commerce software company, tumbled 3.6% to $35.24 as the stock’s lockup for company insiders lifted. The restrictions had previously prevented the company’s venture investors and employees from selling more than 67 million shares held at Shopify’s initial public offering in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange drooped 6.81 points to 519.30
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher, however, as real-estate surged 0.7%, while consumer staples and financials each gained 0.5%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold stocks, plummeting 5.1%, materials, sagging 2.9%, and energy, 0.8% less energetic.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a range Tuesday, as some encouraging earnings reports offset pressure from declines in oil prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average poked ahead 6.49 points to close at 17,489.5, with Wal-Mart and Home Depot leading advancers and Caterpillar the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 slid 3.06 points to 2,050.13, with health-care leading seven advancers and utilities the greatest decliner.
The NASDAQ index inched 0.90 points above breakeven to 4,985.52, Apple traded mildly higher
The major averages struggled to hold higher, giving up intraday gains that briefly took the S&P 500 into positive territory for the year and pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 100 points.
The Dow is still more than 1% t lower year-to-date.
Home Depot posted earnings that topped expectations on revenue that roughly matched estimates. The home improvement retailer reported a greater-than-expected rise in same-store sales both globally and in the United States. Home Depot's earnings outlook for the full year is also above analyst forecasts.
Wal-Mart reported quarterly profit that beat estimates by one cent U.S., with revenue essentially in line. The retail giant's comparable store sales matched expectations, while the full-year forecast is largely above Street consensus.
Home Depot is up more than 15% year-to-date, while Wal-Mart is off more than 25% for the year so far.
Dick's Sporting Goods reported quarterly earnings one cent below estimates on revenue that was very slightly above forecasts.
Comparable store sales rose 0.4%, missing estimates of 2.1%.
In afternoon trade the stock fell about 10%, or down 25% for the year so far.
Shares of GNC, Vitamin Shoppe and Herbalife fell after the U.S. Department of Justice said it would unveil results of an investigation related to illegal advertising and sales. The statement did not specify which firms.
In economic news, the consumer price index rose 0.2% in October, matching estimates.
Home builder confidence fell more than expected to 62 in November.
Industrial production for October showed a second-straight month of decline with a 0.2% drop, missing expectations for a slight rise.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained toward the end of the day, lowering yields back to Monday’s 2.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded a dollar a barrel to $40.74 U.S.
Gold prices faded $13.30 to $1,069.46 U.S. an ounce.
