Futures linked to Canada’s main stock exchange ended lower on Tuesday. The S&P/TSX Composite almost 500 points or 1.64% at 29,777.8
On Monday, the index closed up by 0.1% at 30,275.06, as support from consumer discretionary shares was tempered by markets awaiting clearer signs about the trajectory of corporate earnings and Canada’s economy.
Output and new orders in Canada’s manufacturing sector contracted at a cooler rate in October, a metric from S&P Global showed on Monday. A downturn in the segment as a whole subsequently eased.
U.S. stocks slide
U.S. stock index retreated sharply, as investors fretted about the health of the U.S. economy while digesting more corporate earnings.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 251 points, or 0.5%, the S&P 500 index dropped 1.2%, and the NASDAQ Composite fell 2%. .
The main indices on Wall Street ended in mixed fashion on Monday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average declining while the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite both gained.
Concerns about U.S. economic health
Worries over the health of the U.S. economy have caused investors to bank some of the recent gains as they start to fret about the extremely high valuations implied by the current levels of the major stock indices.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has gained over 23% year-to-date, while the broad-based S&P 500 is over 16% higher and the blue chip DJIA has advanced over 11%.
