The Toronto Stock Exchange's eight-day winning streak looks in danger of coming to an end on Tuesday as oil lost some of its recent strength.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was off 82 points at 13,301 headed into midday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York was even worse, off 134 points to 16,938 while the technology focused Nasdaq composite dropped 34.04 points at 4,674.22.
A major catalyst for the gloom was weak trade data out of China, that showed exports plunged an alarming 25 per cent in February compared to the same time last year. Global demand weakened, but the numbers were dragged even lower by the Lunar New Year holiday which saw factory shutdowns.
There were also signs of weaker domestic demand, too, as imports fell by 14 per cent.
"Investors are voting with their feet and moving away from riskier assets," Scotiabank said after the Chinese trade data came out.
That was bad news for oil, which had quietly been staging a rally for the last few weeks. Benchmark U.S. crude fell 70 cents, or 1.9 per cent, to $37.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That came a day after WTI gained almost $2 to its highest level of 2016.
Gold gained another $10.90 US an ounce to trade at $1,274.90. The loonie lost some of its lustre, too, as the Canadian dollar fell half a cent to 74.78 cents US.
"Oil prices remain the dominant near-term driver of the Canadian dollar," Scotiabank said.
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