Canada's main stock index slipped at the open on Monday, dragged down by utilities and communication services stocks, while investors were cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision later this week.
The TSX Composite deleted 22.51 points to open Monday at 19,448.68.
The Canadian dollar moved back 0.29 cents to 73.19 cents U.S.
National Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce have dropped out as bidders for HSBC Holdings PLC's business in Canada, while Bank of Montreal is still pursuing it.
National shares began Monday up 40 cents to $92.60. CIBC shares gained 18 cents to $61.79.
BMO, for its part, fell back $1.78, or 1.4%, to $126.02.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.13 points first thing Monday to 595.80.
All but of the 12 TSX subgroups stubbed their toes at the outset, with real-estate blundering 1.3%, utilities capsizing 1.2%, and gold fell back 0.8%.
The three gainers proved to be energy, up 1.9%, information technology, better by 0.4%, and materials, nicking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks slipped Monday as the final trading day of October kicked off but the major averages were on pace to snap a two-month losing streak.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 115.66 points to 32,746.14.
The S&P 500 sagged 25.27 points to 3,875.79.
The NASDAQ faded 123.4 points, or 1.1%. to 10.979.05.
Markets made a huge comeback in October, with the Dow last up 13.6% for the month and on pace for its best month since 1987. The S&P 500 has jumped more than 8% with the NASDAQ leaping 4% this month.
October’s gains have come despite a mixed third-quarter earnings season, which has shown slowing growth and a few major disappointments from large tech companies such as Meta Platforms and Amazon. The season continues with Uber, Pfizer and Advanced Micro Devices among the biggest names to report.
Traders are preparing this for the latest Federal Reserve meeting beginning Tuesday. The central bank is expected to hike rates by three quarters of a percentage again on Wednesday, but many on Wall Street are looking for a signal from the FOMC statement or Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference that the Fed could pause its hikes in the near future, or curb their size.
Treasury prices faded, raising yields to 4.04% from Friday’s 4.01%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sagged 91 cents to $86.99U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $3.50 to $1,641.30 U.S. an ounce.
