The Toronto Stock Exchange appeared set to back off at the open Tuesday as commodity prices fell amid weak data out of China that could indicate a decline in demand for resources.
The Canadian dollar shed 0.49 of a cent to 100.78 cents US.
Wall Street futures were mixed, with Dow Jones industrial futures down 57 points to 13,110, Nasdaq futures down 10.5 points to 2,717.25 and S&P 500 futures slipping nine points to 1,395.
Gold bullion resumed its recent downward trend after a double-digit gain Monday, falling $24 to US$1,643.30 an ounce. Copper prices dropped nine cents to US$3.82 a pound.
April oil lost $1.03 to US$107.06 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program have helped to keep oil prices at elevated levels. A military attack by Israel or the U.S. against Iran’s nuclear facilities would likely trigger a crude price spike while renewed diplomatic negotiations would probably cause prices to drop.
“The market is anticipating additional favourable U.S. economic news,” energy trader and consultant Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report. “And until concerns ease regarding Iranian risk, the market appears capable of maintaining price gains, especially if equities remain strong.”
It’s a quiet day for economic data, with U.S. housing starts the only item on the North American agenda, aside from a speech from federal reserve chairman Ben Bernake.
Data on U.S. housing and jobless claims later this week is also likely to provide fresh clues for the market. A private survey of the U.S. homebuilding industry on Monday found that companies are increasingly hopeful that home sales will rise in coming months.
Meanwhile, the rising cost of crude is seen as a threat to the global economic outlook as it could spark inflation and hurt consumer spending. On Tuesday, China raised the price of retail gasoline for the second time in two months.
Meanwhile, home prices dropped in 45 Chinese cities in February as the government moved to cool property speculation. And mining giant BHP Billiton said Tuesday it expects iron ore demand in China will flatten somewhat.
The U.S. Commerce Department is expected to report Tuesday that U.S. builders likely started work on slightly fewer homes in February than a month earlier ahead of the spring home-buying season.
Trading volume was low in Asia because Japan’s markets were closed for a national holiday.
In early trading in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.2%. Germany’s DAX dropped 1.4% and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.7%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.1% to 20,888.24 and South Korea’s Kospi retreated 0.2% to 2,042.15. Australia’s S&P ASX/200 shed 0.4% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.4% at 2,376.84.
Benchmark stock indexes in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand all rose.