The Canadian stock market is down in early trade Tuesday, as trade resumes following the long holiday weekend. Traders are in a cautious mood after U.S. and Canadian officials failed to reach an agreement on trade last week. Talks are expected to resume this week. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday that U.S. would go it alone with Mexico on a revised agreement or to terminate NAFTA entirely.
"There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal," he is reported to have tweeted, "If we don't make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out. Congress should not interfere with these negotiations or I will simply terminate NAFTA entirely & we will be far better off," he added.
Markets in Europe are trading firmly in negative territory Tuesday. Recent reports have suggested that U.S. President Trump plans to move ahead with tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports as early as this week.
Markets on Wall Street are dipping in early trade, following the long holiday weekend.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 48.84 points or 0.30 percent at 16,214.04.
On Friday, the index closed down by 108.67 points or 0.66 percent, at 16,262.88. The index scaled an intraday high of 16,390.40 and a low of 16,252.38.
The Gold Index is decreasing 1.89 percent. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is losing 3.38 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is declining 3.87 percent. Goldcorp (G.TO) is weakening by 3.55 percent and Kinross Gold (K.TO) is down 3.33 percent. Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is lower by 1.27 percent and B2Gold (BTO.TO) is surrendering 2.29 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is decreasing 1.59 percent.
The Capped Materials Index is down 1.80 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is falling 1.25 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is decreasing 1.22 percent.
The heavyweight Financial Index is decreasing 0.41 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is lower by 0.34 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is down 0.29 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is declining 1.26 percent and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is dipping 0.09 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is weakening by 0.74 percent.
The Capped Information Technology Index is losing 0.35 percent. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is lower by 2.56 percent and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is weakening 1.79 percent. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is dipping 0.13 percent.
The Energy Index is falling 0.27 percent. Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is declining 0.50 percent and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is decreasing 0.41 percent. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is lower by 0.24 percent.
The Capped Industrials Index is down 0.21 percent. Air Canada (AC.TO) is falling 1.34 percent and WestJet Airlines (WJA.TO) is dropping 2.40 percent. Finning International (FTT.TO) is lower by 1.19 percent.
Laurentian Bank Financial Group (LB.TO) reported a 1% drop in adjusted net income, year-over-year. Shares are falling 4.43 percent.
AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. (AGT.TO) announced that it has entered into a minority investment, along with Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited and Missinippi Rail Limited Partnership, a consortium of First Nations and communities in Northern Manitoba, to acquire and operate the Hudson Bay Railway, Churchill Marine Tank Farm and Port of Churchill facilities from Omnitrax Inc. The stock is down 1.08 percent.
Aphria Inc. (APH.TO) announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Schroll Medical to pursue the cultivation and worldwide distribution of organic, EU GMP-certified medical cannabis. Shares are surging 7.13 percent.
MTY Food Group Inc. (MTY.TO) announced that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has signed an agreement to acquire most of the assets of the sweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt franchise system for an estimated consideration of USD $35 million. The stock is rising 0.66 percent.
Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH.TO) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Ready Seafood Co. Shares are declining 0.92 percent.
On the economic front, Eurozone producer price inflation accelerated on energy prices in July, figures from Eurostat showed Tuesday. Producer prices advanced 4 percent year-on-year in July, following a 3.6 percent rise in June. Prices were expected to gain 3.9 percent in July.
UK construction activity expanded at the weakest pace in three months in August largely mirroring lack of new work on infrastructure projects, survey data from IHS Markit showed Tuesday.
The IHS Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell notably to 52.9 in August from July's 14-month peak of 55.8. The score was also below the expected 54.9.
UK like-for-like sales increased slightly in August, figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG showed Tuesday. Like-for-like sales rose slightly by 0.2 percent year-on-year in August. At the same time, total sales advanced 1.3 percent annually.
In commodities, crude oil futures for October delivery are up 0.63 or 0.90 percent at $70.43 a barrel.
Natural gas for October is down 0.069 or 2.37 percent at $2.847 per million btu.
Gold futures for December are down 10.79 or 0.90 percent at $1,195.90 an ounce.
Silver for December is down 0.492 or 3.38 percent at $14.065 an ounce.
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