Canada’s main stock index fell on Tuesday in broad-based declines led by bank stocks, which were pressured by turmoil in European markets following an Italian lawmaker’s anti-euro comments.
The lawmaker, Claudio Borghi, said most of Italy’s problems would be resolved if it readopted a national currency.
At 11:30 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 83.76 points, or 0.52 per cent, at 16,020.67
Nine of the index’s 11 major sectors were lower
The heavy-weight financial sector dropped 0.7 per cent. Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia led the decline, with their shares falling between 0.8 per cent and 1 per cent.
The Canadian dollar was little changed against its broadly stronger U.S. counterpart, holding on to most of the gains that followed a deal over the weekend to keep Canada in a revamped NAFTA trade pact.
Also dragging on the main index was the energy sector’s 1.6-per-cent drop. Husky Energy Inc. fell 3.7 per cent, while Canadian National Resources Ltd. was down 1.8 per cent
The only sectors in positive territory were materials, which was up 1.4 per cent, and consumer staples, rising 0.2 per cent.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Element Fleet Management Corp., which jumped 17.3 per cent after it announced a strategic plan on Monday.
Marijuana producers fell in morning trading after PepsiCo Inc. said it has no plan to do anything with cannabis-based products.
Canopy Growth Corp. was down 3.5 per cent, while Aurora Cannabis Inc. dipped 3.1 per cent.
A jump in Intel powered the Dow Jones Industrial Average to an all-time intraday high on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were little changed as U.S. stocks, much like global peers, remained pressured due to Italy’s troubles.
Intel rose 4.4 per cent and sent the blue-chip Dow index up as much as 0.45 per cent to a record high of 26,771.91 points.
The S&P edged up 0.03 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite eked out a 0.01-per-cent gain.
Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as analysts forecast a weekly build in U.S. crude stockpiles, but prices remained close to four-year highs on worries that global supplies will drop due to Washington’s sanctions on Iran.
“This is the market catching its breath,” said Gene McGillian, director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.
Still, oil prices drew support from worries that Iranian production will drop sharply after U.S. sanctions go into effect on Nov. 4. Also, global demand has remained strong in the face of trade tensions.
International benchmark Brent dipped 22 cents to $84.76 per barrel a day after reaching a four-year high of $85.45. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 25 cents to $75.05 a barrel. U.S. crude hit a four-year high of $75.91 during the session.
Five analysts polled by Reuters forecast that U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles rose last week, while distillate inventories declined. Five analysts estimated that crude stocks rose about 1.1 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 28.
Reuters