OTTAWA: The Canadian stock market got off to a weak start Tuesday, but has since pared its early losses. The market is struggling due to weakness in commodity prices. Gold and energy stocks are under pressure this morning, but healthcare stocks are among the biggest losers. The sector is down after a Republican health care bill was revealed in the U.S. House of Representatives. The majority of the European markets have slipped into negative territory again Tuesday. After opening slightly higher following yesterday’s weak performance, the markets pared their early gains before settling into a sideways trend. The lackluster opening on Wall Street has pushed the European markets lower in afternoon trade. Markets in the United States got off to a weak start Tuesday, but have since climbed closer to the flat line. Trading activity remains somewhat subdued ahead of Friday’s closely watched jobs report and next week’s Fed meeting. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 3.21 points or 0.02 percent at 15,632.96. On Monday, the index closed up 21.25 points or 0.14 percent, at 15,629.75. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,631.24 and a low of 15,499.63.
The Capped Healthcare Index is lower by 2.50 percent. Concordia International (CXR.TO) is losing 2.42 percent and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is weakening by 7.02 percent. The Capped Materials Index is down 0.93 percent. Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is losing 0.52 percent and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is declining 0.84 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is falling 1.78 percent. The Gold Index is declining 0.67 percent. Gold prices are inching lower Tuesday morning, even as anxiety rises among investors amid talk of an imminent Fed rate hike. Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is decreasing 1.10 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is losing 1.77 percent. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is weakening by 2.25 percent and Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is dropping 1.43 percent. Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is falling 1.47 percent. The Energy Index is falling 0.40 percent. Crude oil prices are barely budging from a tight trading range yet again Tuesday morning, ahead of U.S. crude oil inventories data. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is losing 0.54 percent and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is down 0.07 percent. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is slipping 0.17 percent and Encana (ECA.TO) is weakening by 0.85 percent. Cenovus Energy (CVE.T) is surrendering 1.39 percent. The heavyweight Financial Index is increasing 0.26 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is rising 0.22 percent and National Bank (NA.TO) is increasing 0.61 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is up 0.28 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is gaining 0.17 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is advancing 0.55 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is adding 0.33 percent.
The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is up 0.25 percent. Rogers Communications (RCI-B.TO) is rising 0.62 percent and TELUS (T.TO) is gaining 0.18 percent. Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is higher by 0.03 percent and BCE (BCE.TO) is adding 0.03 percent. The Capped Information Technology Index is gaining 0.20 percent. BlackBerry (BB.TO) is advancing 0.88 percent and Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is climbing 1.44 percent. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is increasing 0.93 percent and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is up 0.24 percent.
The Capped Industrials Index is up 0.04 percent. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is gaining 0.49 percent and AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is adding 0.63 percent. Cameco Corp. (CCO.TO) is exploring the sale of its U.S. uranium production facilities, its chief executive told Reuters. The stock is now up 0.21 percent. Terraform Global Inc. has agreed to be acquired by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM-A.TO) for approximately $787 million in cash. Brookfield will also assume approximately $455 million in net debt. Brookfield is gaining 0.56 percent. On the economic front, Canada’s merchandise trade balance with the world posted a third consecutive monthly surplus, widening from $447 million in December to $807 million in January. Exports were up 0.5% while imports edged down 0.3%. The euro area economy logged a stable growth in the fourth quarter as previously estimated, revised data published by Eurostat showed Tuesday. Gross domestic product grew 0.4 percent sequentially, the same pace of growth as registered in the third quarter. German factory orders declined the most in eight years in January on weak foreign and domestic demand. Factory orders decreased 7.4 percent in January from December, the biggest fall since January 2009, when orders plunged 7.7 percent, Destatis reported Tuesday.
Economists had forecast orders to fall moderately by 2.5 percent, partly reversing December’s 5.2 percent increase. UK house prices increased less than expected in February, survey data from the mortgage lender Halifax and IHS Markit showed Tuesday. House prices edged up 0.1 percent in February from January, when prices declined 1.1 percent. Nonetheless, the pace of increase was weaker than the expected 0.4 percent. Like-for-like sales in the United Kingdom were down 0.4 percent on year in February, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday. That beat forecasts for a decline of 0.5 percent following the 0.6 percent fall in January. A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened in line with economist estimates in the month of January. The report said the trade deficit widened to $48.5 billion in January from $44.3 billion in December, matching expectations. In commodities, crude oil futures for April delivery are up 0.28 or 0.53 percent at $53.48 a barrel. Natural gas for April is down 0.055 or 1.90 percent at $2.846 per million btu. Gold futures for April are down $7.30 or 0.60 percent at $1,218.20 an ounce. Silver for May is down $0.243 or 1.37 percent at $17.53 an ounce.
