Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday as global investors avoided risks ahead of U.S. economic data and earnings from AI bellwether Nvidia, while commodity prices fell.
The TSX folded 134.57 points to 29,941.84.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.18 cents to 71.36 cents U.S.
Prime Minister Mark Carney squeaked through his first major political test on Monday, as Parliament narrowly approved his debut budget - averting the prospect of a second election in less than a year.
The economic blueprint, aimed at steering Canada through a turbulent global trade environment, doubles the fiscal deficit to counter U.S. tariffs while funneling fresh spending into defense and housing programs. Investors were lukewarm when the plan first surfaced.
Financial Times reported that activist hedge fund Elliott Management has built a large stake in Barrick Mining, which puts it among the miner's 10 largest investors.
Barrick shares gained 73 cents, or 1.4%, to $52.71.
On matters macroeconomic, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported its seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts dropped to 232,765 units from a revised 279,174 units in September. Economists had expected starts to fall to 265,000.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange handed over 0.14 points to 859.51.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups opened lower, weighed most by telecoms, off 1.4%, information technology, down 1%, and financials, sliding 0.8%.
The four gainers were led by gold, up 1.1%, materials, ahead 0.6%, and consumer staples, eking up 0.2%.
Health-care stocks were unchanged in the first hour.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell again on Tuesday after tech shares continued to slide on concern about valuations of artificial intelligence-related stocks and as bitcoin dropped briefly below $90,000, a sign of reduced risk-taking by investors.
The Dow Jones Industrials index surrendered 536.46 points, or 1.2%, to 46,054.34, putting it on pace for its fourth straight losing session, which would be its longest slide since August.
The S&P 500 faded 73.98 points, or 1.1%, to open at 6,598.43.
The NASDAQ subtracted 369.37 points, or 1.7%, to 22,330.66
AI chip darling Nvidia fell 3%. Fellow “Magnificent Seven” members Amazon and Microsoft also came under pressure. Nvidia has fallen 10% this month leading up to the chipmaker’s third-quarter results due after Wednesday’s close.
The company, which is reporting toward the end of a strong earnings season, has been at the center of a debate about the strength of the AI-powered market rally this year, as concerns have grown about pricey tech valuations and the soundness of AI fundamentals due to a boom in Big Tech debt offerings.
A big AI partnership announced Tuesday failed to lift related stocks like such deals have in the past. AI-startup Anthropic said it will spend $30 billion with Microsoft and, in turn, Microsoft and Nvidia will invest billions in Anthropic. Nvidia and Microsoft remained deep in the red following the deal.
Blue Owl, a private credit lender that’s made big loans for AI data centers, continued to fall in the premarket after dropping 6% in the prior session. Earlier this month, Blue Owl said it was merging two private credit funds, a private and publicly-traded one. Investors in the private fund face big losses and will be blocked from redeeming their money until next year, according to reports.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told the BBC that part of today’s AI boom did have some “irrationality” and that no company “is going to be immune” if the bubble burst.
Bitcoin dropped below $90,000 on Tuesday, continuing its slide from a record $126,000 reached in early October. Many tech investors also have large cryptocurrency holdings so the decline raised worries that a bigger stock market drop may follow. Bitcoin was last trading just above $91,000.
Outside of tech, Home Depot shares declined after the home improvement reported an earnings miss and cutting its full-year outlook.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury edged up slightly, lowering yields to 4.09% from Monday’s 4.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices declined 43 cents to $59.48 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stepped back $11.50 to $4,063.10 U.S. an ounce.
