Negative Start to Abbreviated Week

Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday, dragged down by technology and consumer companies as a weak sentiment on Wall Street outweighed relief from signs of cooling inflation in Canada.

The TSX retreated 61.18 points to open Tuesday at 20,454.06.

The Canadian dollar dipped 0.26 cents to 74.07 cents U.S.

In company news, Teck Resources said it will change its name to Teck Metals Corp and also spin off its steelmaking coal unit as Elk Valley Resources Ltd, while the miner also missed its fourth-quarter profit estimate.

Teck shares were lifted $1.40, or 2.4%, to $60.80.

OceanaGold beat fourth-quarter profit and revenue expectations. Its stock took on eight cents, or 3.1%, to $2.68.

Shaw Communications’ lawyers are expected to pocket $100 million-plus fee in the long-delayed takeover from Rogers Communications.

Shaw shares gained four cents to $39.29, while those for Rogers declined 43 cents to $65.74.

Markets on both sides of the border were closed Monday, those in Canada for Family Day, in the States for Presidents Day.

On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said retail trade hiked 0.5% to $62.1 billion in December. Sales increased in seven of 11 subsectors and were led by higher sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers (+3.8%) and general merchandise stores (+1.7%).

The agency also said its consumer price index rose 5.9% on a year-over-year basis in January, following a 6.3% increase in December. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.3% in January.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.38 points to 631.16.

All but two of the 12 subgroups were lower, with health-care, consumer staples and information technology each trailing 1.1%.

The two gainers proved to be energy, ahead 0.8%, and materials, better by 0.6%.

ON WALLSTREET

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U.S. stocks dropped Tuesday as higher rates continue to pressure market sentiment, and the latest batch of retail earnings raised concern about the state of the consumer.

The Dow Jones Industrials cratered 435.8 points, or 1.3%, to open a short week at 33,390.88.

The S&P 500 retreated 48.97 points to 4,030.12.

The NASDAQ Composite moved backward 176.03, or 1.5%, to 11,610.34.

Home Depot shares fell 5.3% after the home improvement retailer posted weaker-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter. The company also issued a muted outlook. Walmart, another Dow component, dipped 0.3% after posting its latest quarterly results. Walmart CFO John David Rainey said that consumers are buying fewer discretionary items as grocery prices remain high.

The Dow fell 0.1% last week, marking its third straight weekly decline. The S&P 500 slid for a second consecutive week, losing 0.3%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite bucked the trend, rising 0.6%.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday is scheduled to release the minutes from its meeting of Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. The central bank hiked rates by 25 basis points after that meeting.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury withered, lifting yields to 3.94% from Friday’s 3.81%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices regained 68 cents to $77.02 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices fell $6.40 to $1,843.80 U.S. an ounce.