Equities in Canada’s largest centre opened lower on Monday, with energy stocks leading the drop as oil prices fell on signs of a strong recovery in U.S. drilling.
The S&P/TSX Composite went south 37.61 points to open Monday at 15,510.27
The Canadian dollar fell 0.15 cents at 75.02 cents U.S.
Among energy issues, Peyto Exploration and Development took a header of $1.69, or 5.7%, in the early going to $28.22, while Cenovus Energy dropped 56 cents, or 2.9%, to $18.90.
The industrial sector got hit, too, in the first hour, as Bombardier lost a nickel, or 1.9%, to $2.56, while Canadian Pacific Railway doffed $1.09 to $200.40.
Consumer staples fell as Metro Inc. slipped 31 cents to $40.89, while Maple Leaf Foods faltered 12 cents to $28.47.
Gold took a contrary direction, as Barrick Gold rose 31 cents, or 1.4%, to $23.13, while Entrée Gold rocketed five cents, or 7.1%, to 75 cents.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale trade edged up 0.2% to $56.9 billion in November, a second consecutive increase.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 6.66 points to 804.25
All but two of the 12 subgroups were lower, as energy subsided 1.5%, industrials dropped 0.5%, and consumer staples slid 0.4%.
Gold moved up 1%, and materials improved 0.7%, as the only two gainers.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities were mixed on Monday after Donald Trump followed up on one of his central campaign promises: deregulation.
The Dow Jones Industrials were negative 33.43 points to 19,793.82, with McDonald's losing the most.
The S&P 500 fell 5.06 points to 2,266.25, with energy leading decliners.
The NASDAQ composite index moved down 6.91 points to 5,548.43
In corporate news, earnings season continued as Halliburton and Dow component McDonald's reported quarterly results. McDonald's beat analyst expectations on both the top and bottom line.
Halliburton, meanwhile, beat bottom-line estimates but sales came in light of expectations. Yahoo is expected to post results after the close on Monday.
There will be several S&P 500 components reporting throughout the week, including tech giants Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet.
President rump said Monday he believes his administration can cut regulations by 75% at least.
Trump is expected to sign an executive order as early as Monday that will put in motion the renegotiation of the North America Free Trade Agreement, as well as an executive order announcing his intention to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement among 11 other Pacific Rim countries.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were unchanged, keeping yields at Friday’s 2.47%.
Oil prices backtracked 62 cents to $52.60 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices strengthened $7.90 to $1,212.80 U.S. an ounce.
