Stocks in Toronto found it hard to shake off the negative vibes at first Tuesday, as energy weighed on the index.
The TSX Composite Index fell 80.25 points to open Tuesday at 24,022.46
The Canadian dollar shed 0.2 cents to 73.22 cents U.S.
Canada’s energy sector could come under pressure due to a decline in oil prices as markets still await an Israeli response to the Iranian rocket attacks that had triggered a rally in crude last week.
The materials sector is under focus due to gold prices slipped against a stronger dollar, while copper prices hit a two-week low as Chinese officials held back on unleashing more stimulus to boost the economy of the world’s largest commodity consumer.
Markets see a 90.7% chance of a 25-basis points cut at the Federal Reserve’s November policy meeting, while expectations for a quarter-point-cut by the Bank of Canada later in the month stand at 72.8%.
In corporate news, online jewelry brand Mene named Sean Try as its chief financial officer, effective immediately, following Gavin Johnson’s resignation. Mene shares have maintained a reading of 12 cents since early last week.
On the economic schedule, Canadian International Merchandise Trade was due today for August.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 3.31 points to 588.94
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground at the open, with energy fading 2.7%, while materials slid 1.3%, and utilities were off 0.3%.
The four gainers were led by information technology, up 1%, while consumer staples and industrials each climbed 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rebounded on Tuesday following a losing session on Wall Street with rising oil prices and bond yields in focus.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost 32.73 points to 41,921.51.
The much-broader index improved 31.88 points to 5,727.82.
The NASDAQ Composite recovered 164.12 points to 18,088.03.
Technology shares powered higher Tuesday, with Nvidia ahead 3%, and Apple last up 2%. Meta Platforms, Tesla and Microsoft rose at least 1% each.
Stocks have been volatile this month as fears of an escalating conflict in the Middle East mount. The S&P 500 is off by a little more than 1.1% in October following a 2% gain in September. Stocks are also coming off a rocky session that saw all three major averages finish lower.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped, making yields jump to 4.04% from Monday’s 4.02%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped $3.04 to $74.10 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stumbled $10.30 to $2,655.70 U.S. an ounce
