Energy Again the Culprit
Stocks in
Canada's
biggest market fell on Tuesday as lower crude oil prices weighed on the resource-linked market for a second straight day.
The S&P/TSX composite index plummeted 244.05 points, or 1.9%, to open Tuesday at 12,430.32.
The Canadian dollar ducked back 0.64 cents to 71.06 cents
U.S.
WestJet Airlines reported a smaller quarterly profit, hurt by a weak economy in
Alberta
and a foreign exchange loss. Net earnings fell to
$63.4 million, or
51 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, from
$90.7 million, or
70 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 3.6% to
$958.7 million.
WestJet shares were grounded $1.81, or 9.7%, to $16.89.
Brookfield Asset Management has withdrawn an offer to buy the 24.4% stake in infrastructure company Invepar held by
Brazil's
Grupo. Brookfield said in a statement that its offer depended on some conditions, particularly a revision of the shareholders agreement, which faced opposition from other partners.
Brookfield shares dipped 85 cents, to 2.1%, to $40.67.
Crude oil production at Syncrude Canada's oil sands operation averaged 296,100 barrels per day in January, up 24% from December, the joint venture's largest-interest owner said. Syncrude Canada is a joint-venture of seven partners - Canadian Oil Sands, Imperial Oil, Mocal Energy, Murphy Oil, Nexen, Sinopec and Suncor Energy.
COS shares lost 37 cents, or 4.2%, to $8.54.
IMO shares fell $1.52, or 3.6%, to $40.31.
Suncor shares deducted $1.30, or 4.1%, to $30.53.
Democrats from
Pennsylvania's
congressional delegation sent a letter to a federal rail regulator on Monday raising concerns over the possible negative impacts of a merger between
Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern Corp.
CP shares subtracted $3.41, or 2%, to $163.39.
Canaccord Genuity cuts target price on RONA Inc. to $13.00 from $14.00, with a hold rating, saying that the home renovation market continues to face several headwinds, most notably in two of Rona's major markets,
Alberta
and
Quebec
.
RONA shares fell 18 cents, or 1.5%, to $12.08.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked down 0.71 points, to 500.23
All 13 TSX subgroups were negative to start out, as energy slipped 4.6%, metals and mining skidded 4.1%, and industrials weakened 2.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S.
stocks traded lower Tuesday as renewed declines in oil prices weighed amid mixed reaction to some key earnings reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average slouched 227.871 points, or 1.4%, to open at 16,221.37. Goldman Sachs and Chevron were the greatest weights on the index.
The S&P 500 pointed downward 28.36 points, or 1.5%, to 1,911.02. Energy fell more than 2.5% in morning trade to lead all S&P 500 sectors lower.
The NASDAQ index dropped 43.41 points to 4,576.96
Alphabet, Google's parent company, reported earnings after the close Monday that beat on both the top and bottom line, helped by a 17% rise in advertising revenue. A key advertising metric of aggregate paid clicks increased 31% from the previous year, beating consensus expectations of about 22%.
A jump in the shares in after-hours trade and a 3% gain in morning trade Tuesday put Google on pace to top Apple as the world's most valuable company.
Shares of Exxon Mobil fell 2% in morning trade after the firm reported a 58% drop in profit, hurt by low oil prices. The world's largest publicly traded oil company also said it would cut spending this year by one-quarter
Auto sales for January are the only major data out Tuesday, ahead of Friday's jobs report.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained sharply, lowering yields to 1.88% from Monday's 1.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave back $1.56 a barrel to $30.06
U.S.
Gold prices inched up two cents to $1,128.43
U.S.
an ounce.
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