Equity markets ended Monday mixed, despite gains by health-care and gold stocks
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 4.82 points to end Monday at 15,409.47
The Canadian dollar took on 0.23 cents to 76.97 cents U.S.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday warned against threats to punish it over last week's disappearance of Khashoggi, as European leaders piled on pressure and two more U.S. executives scrapped plans to attend a Saudi investor conference.
Among the health-care companies that flourished (on the eve of the legalization of cannabis in Canada on Tuesday), Canopy Growth grew $8.17, or 12.6%, to $73.07, while Aurora Cannabis leaped $1.39, or 10.1%, to $15.10.
Among gold miners, Iamgold took on two cents to $5.12, while Barrick Gold acquired 33 cents, or 2%, to $16.56.
In the communications sector, Rogers soared $1.01, or 1.6%, to $65.69, while BCE prospered 62 cents, or 1.2%, to $51.53
In the tech sector, BlackBerry faltered 21 cents, or 1.7%, to $12.28, while Constellation Software collapsed $16.08, or 1.8%, to $875.09
Energy stocks also went south, with Husky Energy sliding 28 cents, or 1.4%, to $19.97, while Canadian Natural Resources dipped 43 cents, or 1.1%, to $37.42.
In the financial sector, Royal Bank gave back 28 cents to $98.50, while Sun Life Financial decreased 37 cents to $47.75.
The Bank of Canada said Canadian business optimism remained at near record-levels in the third quarter, with companies reporting rising pressure on capacity, labour and prices amid signs of stronger sales.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday actual (not seasonally-adjusted) home re-sales dipped 8.9% in September from the same month a year earlier.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 12.76 points, or 1.8%, to 711.36
Eight of the 12 subgroups higher, as health-care climbed 6.3%, gold was 1.4% stronger, and communication stocks beamed up 1.1%.
The four laggards were weighed most by information technology, swooning 0.7%, energy, 0.6% less energetic, and financials, poorer by 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
A decline in tech shares pushed the major indexes lower on Monday as Wall Street tried to regain its footing after last week's sharp losses.
The Dow Jones Industrials ended a seesaw day by losing 89.44 points, to conclude Monday trading at 25,250.55
The S&P 500 slumped 16.34 points to 2,750.79, as the tech sector fell more than 1.5%
The NASDAQ trailed Friday’s close by 66.15 points to 7,430.74.
Apple and Netflix pulled back more than 1.8% each. Netflix fell after Raymond James slashed its price target on the video-streaming giant.
Apple dropped after Goldman Sachs said the tech giant's earnings could fall short this year as demand in China slows. Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet also traded lower.
The recent moves come as the latest corporate earnings season kicks into high gear. Netflix, Morgan Stanley, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and Honeywell are among the companies scheduled to release third-quarter earnings this week.
Bank of America reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue on Monday. The stock, however, fell 1.9%.
The major indexes registered their worst weekly losses since March last week as interest rates jumped to multiyear highs.
Both the S&P 500 and Dow dropped more than 4% last week. The NASDAQ fell 3.7%. The S&P 500 also posted a third consecutive weekly loss, its longest such streak since June 2016.
Those declines were largely led by technology stocks, which had their worst week since March after falling 3.8% as a sector.
The recent moves come as the latest corporate earnings season kicks into high gear. Netflix, Morgan Stanley, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and Honeywell are among the companies scheduled to release third-quarter earnings this week.
Expectations for this earnings season are high. Analysts polled by FactSet expect third-quarter S&P 500 profits to have expanded by 19% on a year-over-year basis.
In data, retail sales rose just 0.1% in September. Economists expected a gain of 0.6%.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 3.15% from Friday’s 3.16%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 31 cents at $71.65 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $6.90 to $1,230.20 U.S. an ounce.
