Canadian stocks plunge on release of federal budget

Canada's main stock market in Toronto tumbled Tuesday as the Liberal government rolled out its maiden federal budget, complicated with negative news of deadly blasts in Brussels, Belgium and the death of former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index lost 67.60 points, or 0.50 percent, to close at 13,493.49 points. Five of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were lower.

Oil prices fluctuated Tuesday after a series of explosions in Brussels, Belgium. Oil prices fell more than 1 percent after the news, then recovered most of the loss as market saw the crude supply glut to ease.

The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery moved down 7 cents to settle at 41.45 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery increased 25 cents to close at 41.79 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Reacting mildly, TSX energy group went down 0.07 percent and metal & mining sector lost 0.17 percent, but gold stocks saw a bigger retreat after early rally as Harte Gold Corp. fell 20.45 percent to 0.175 Canadian dollar (0.134 U.S. dollar) per share, while Barrick Gold Corporation dipped 1.56 percent to 18.91 Canadian dollars a share.

The death toll was now up to 34 in terror attacks on a Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train station in the Belgian capital Tuesday, triggering security alerts across Europe and bringing some cross-border traffic to a halt.

Travel-related stocks fell, with Air Canada down 2.29 percent at 8.95 Canadian dollars and Westjet Airlines off 2.60 percent at 19.50 Canadian dollars. Canadian National Railway fell 2.40 percent to 79.56 Canadian dollars.

Banks took their lumps, with Royal Bank of Canada falling 0.7 percent to 74.79 Canadian dollars and Bank of Nova Scotia off 0.41 percent at 63.40 Canadian dollars.

Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who became controversially known for his drug and alcohol abuse while in office, has died after battling cancer for years, his office confirmed Tuesday. He was 46.

Tuesday was Federal Budget Day in Canada, and Finance Minister Bill Morneau has promised stimulus spending to boost economic growth. The document was presented in the House of Commons after the markets closed.

Projecting a deficit of 29.4 billion Canadian dollars, the Liberal government's first federal budget includes billions in new spending on aboriginal peoples and veterans, a revamped Canada child benefit and changes to employment insurance to soften the blow of a flagging economy.

The budget provides 5.6 billion Canadian dollars more in benefits to veterans and their families over five years, but delays indefinitely a plan to spend billions more on procuring badly needed ships, planes and vehicles.

And a promised cut in the small business tax rate from 11 percent to 9 percent has not fully materialized, falling only by half a percentage point, with the rest of the reduction deferred indefinitely.

The Liberals claim their budget will create 100,000 jobs and boost national economic growth, as measured by gross domestic product, by half a percentage point per year.

The Canadian dollar traded higher at 0.7672 U.S. dollar Tuesday, compared with Monday's closing rate of 0.7642 U.S. dollar. Endit