Falling energy prices tugged Canada’s main stock index downward on Tuesday as producers responded to developments in the Middle East and China.The 4.8 per cent loss for Canadian energy stocks arrived in lockstep with oil price declines of roughly four per cent on Tuesday. The November West Texas intermediate crude contract dropped US$3.25 to US$70.58 per barrel and the November natural gas contract nudged up less than a penny to US$2.50 per mmBTU.
Crude has weakened as China’s flagging economic growth raises concerns about weaker-than-expected demand for oil, prompting a"knock-on effect" in Canada, he said. Nvidia weighed heavily on the S&P 500, falling 4.5 per cent. It's a cooldown for the chip company, whose stock remains up 173.7 per cent year to date on euphoria about the profits created by the artificial-intelligence technology boom.