Wall Street’s main indexes opened lower on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 headed for its worst first quarter since 1938 amid growing evidence of the scale of the damage caused by the collapse in oil prices and business activity due to the coronavirus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 119.06 points, or 0.53%, at the open to 22,208.42.
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The S&P 500 opened lower by 11.96 points, or 0.46%, at 2,614.69. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 34.09 points, or 0.44%, to 7,740.06 at the opening bell.
In Toronto, however, strength in the energy sector helped lift Canada’s main stock index in early trading.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 212.36 points at 13,250.86 at 9:50 a.m. ET.
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The Canadian dollar traded for 70.00 cents US compared with an average of 70.64 cents US on Monday.
The May crude contract was up 86 cents at US$20.95 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was up 2.3 cents at US$1.713 mmBTU.
The June gold contract was down US$16.90 at US$1,626.30 an ounce and the May copper contract was up 4.35 cents at US$2.1990 a pound.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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