Canada's main stock index fell on Monday as lower oil and gold prices weighed on the shares of energy and mining companies, offsetting gains for financials.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 16.03 points to close Monday at 14,923.01
The Canadian dollar regained 0.18 cents to 75.15 cents U.S.
The European Union has given Belgium until late on Monday to overcome opposition to a free trade deal with Canada from its French-speaking region or a summit to sign the pact that could boost both economies is off.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales advanced 0.8% to $56.8 billion in August, a fifth consecutive gain.
Five of the seven sub-sectors, representing 80% of total wholesale
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped 4.43 points to 786.14
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher as information technology stocks soared 0.8%, while consumer staples and utilities each gained 0.5%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1.9%, health-care, sliding 1.1%, and materials, worse off by 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed higher on Monday amid a plethora of corporate news, but gains were subdued by a rising dollar and falling oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 77.32 to close at 18,223.03, with 3M and Boeing contributing the most to gains.
The S&P 500 gained 5.77 points to 2,146.93, with information technology rising 1.2% to lead advancers.
The NASDAQ composite index gained 39.31 points to 5,296.71, posting its best day since September 21.
AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner on Saturday for more than $85 billion U.S., or $107.50 per share. The combination brings Time Warner full circle back to the heady days of the first Dotcom bubble, when it created a merger of equals with AOL— which failed spectacularly in achieving its goals and resulted in an eventual breakup.
TD Ameritrade also announced it's buying Scottrade for $4 billion U.S. in a two-step deal with TD Bank. TD Ameritrade said said it would end up paying $2.7 billion for Scottrade's brokerage business after the sale of Scottrade Bank to Toronto-Dominion Bank's U.S. banking unit for $1.3 billion U.S..
Meanwhile, airplane interior maker B/E Aerospace saw its stock surge 16.4% after announcing it's being bought out by Rockwell Collins for $6.4 billion
Earnings season continued with T-Mobile, VF Corp, Restaurant Brands and Kimberly-Clark all reporting quarterly results before the bell.
Visa and Zions Bancorp are among the firms scheduled to post results after the bell after the close. This week will be the busiest one of the season, with more than 160 S&P companies and 13 Dow components scheduled to report.
The economic data calendar was light on Monday, with only the IHS Markit manufacturing index's flash read for October released. The number rose to 53.2 from a three-month low of 51.5, which was hit in September.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury slumped, raising yields 1.77% from Friday’s 1.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 39 cents at $50.46 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices lost three dollars to $1,264.70 U.S. an ounce.
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