A TSX tote board is pictured in Toronto, on Dec. 31, 2012. Canada possesses a developed economy in every regard but that doesn’t mean investors can ignore emerging markets. The weighting of resource-related companies in the S&P/TSX composite remains much higher than their contribution to gross domestic product despite recent market weakness.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
The Toronto stock market pulled back Tuesday near midday, with nearly every major sector lower after data showed growth in the Canadian economy slowed in the final months of last year.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 143 points to 15,121.01, while the Canadian dollar rose 0.52 of a U.S. cent to 80.30 cents.
Statistics Canada says the economy grew at an annualized pace of 2.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014, better than the 2.0 per cent forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
The latest GDP data signals that it's unlikely the bank will cut its key interest rate on Wednesday, said Todd Mattina, chief economist and strategist at Mackenzie Investments.
"We're not seeing a strong rebalancing towards business investment in exports away from the energy sector," he said.
Metals prices were mixed and weighed heaviest on the declines. May copper fell 4.8 cents to US$2.65 a pound. Gold stocks fell 1.24 per cent, after making small gains earlier in the session, as April bullion dropped $4.80 to US$1,203.40 an ounce.
Energy stocks were ahead 0.8 per cent as the April crude oil contract rose 38 cents to US$49.97 a barrel.
On Wall Street, stocks retreated after the Nasdaq Composite Index closed above 5,000 for the first time in 15 years, as auto and health-care companies slid.
The Dow Jones industrials moved back 148.1 points to 18,140.54 and the S&P 500 index lost 18.7 points to 2,098.69. The Nasdaq slid 51.18 points to 4,956.91.
"We've had some fantastic gains recently putting stocks at or near all-time highs so the markets are due for a little bit of consolidation," Kevin Caron, a market strategist and portfolio manager who helps oversee $170 billion at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Florham Park, New Jersey, said by phone. "There's not a lot to move the market so perhaps this is some momentum carrying the market a little bit."
The Nasdaq Composite is 1.6 per cent from a record reached in 2000. It has taken two bull markets and more than 4,500 days for the Nasdaq to get close to making up all the ground lost in the dot-com collapse. The index surged 7.1 per cent in February, its best month since 2012.
The S&P 500 rose to fresh records four times in February, while the Dow average climbed 5.6 per cent for its best month since January 2013. The index also topped its record from December for the first time in 2015.
In Toronto, Scotiabank, the last of the big five banks to report first-quarter results, said net earnings were $1.73 billion or $1.35 per diluted share, up from $1.71 billion or $1.32 in the comparable year-earlier period.
Adjusted earnings were $1.36 per share, up from $1.34 a year earlier but missed analyst expectations by two cents and Scotiabank shares fell $1.08 or 1.61 per cent to $65.85.
BlackBerry unveiled its latest smartphone at the Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, offering a look at the first of four new smartphones it plans to release this year.
Chief executive John Chen said the BlackBerry Leap will cater to the "low-to-mid" range phone market, and will go on sale in Europe in April.
BlackBerry shares were up 22 cents or 1.6 per cent at $14.09 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Economic reports this week may give clues on when the U.S. Federal Reserve may increase its benchmark interest rate. Data may show factory orders rose in January after slipping the previous month, while payrolls climbed in February as the unemployment rate fell, economists forecast.
Investors are also awaiting details of the European Central Bank's debt-purchase program on Thursday. ECB President Mario Draghi in January announced a 1.1 trillion-euro ($1.2 trillion U.S.) quantitative-easing plan to counter slowing growth and the threat of deflation.
"This week is very much about the ECB and the jobs report," said Witold Bahrke, an asset-allocation strategist at Nomura International Plc in London. "We had a very strong run in the recent week. It's only natural that people will step a bit more into the sidelines, especially when you're heading into these big events at the end of the week when we could see larger moves."
Automobile stocks slid as Ford Motor said February light-vehicle sales slipped 2 per cent after analysts projected an increase. General Motors Co.'s sales increase missed estimates as cold weather slowed showroom traffic. Ford fell 2.6 per cent, parts maker Delphi Automotive lost 1 per cent and GM declined 0.2 per cent.
With files from Bloomberg News