Markets in Toronto opened slightly lower on Monday, hurt by losses among its heavyweight natural resources sectors and biggest banks, while consumer and technology stocks rose.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 7.11 points to start the week at 15,991.46
The Canadian dollar eked higher 0.06 cents to 78.22 cents U.S.
Nebraska regulators will announce their decision on Monday on whether to approve TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL pipeline route through the state, the last big hurdle for the long-delayed project.
TransCanada shares retreated 13 cents to $62.41.
Glencore Plc said on Monday it had identified material weaknesses in the internal controls for financial reporting at Katanga Mining Ltd., in which the London-listed miner has a majority.
Katanga shares lost five cents, or 4%, to $1.21.
Canaccord Genuity cut the price target on Asanko Gold to $1 from $2.50. Asanko shares were off five cents, or 4.9%, to 97 cents.
Barclays raised the target price on Canadian Natural Resources to $41 from $38. Natural Resources shares dipped 54 cents, or 1.2%, to $43.99.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Enerflex Ltd. to $19 from $18.50. Enerflex shares docked six cents to $15.66.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.08 points to 799.27
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups found their way into positive territory in the session’s first hour, with health-care vaulting 1.3%, consumer discretionary stocks up 0.4%, and telecoms gaining 0.3%.
The five laggards were weighed most by energy, slouching 1.1%, gold, dipping 0.6%, and materials worse off by 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks opened little changed on Monday as a shortened trading week kicked off. Shares of Wal-Mart fell after analysts at Goldman Sachs raised concern about the stock's valuation.
The Dow Jones industrial average went up 80.89 points to 23,439.13, with Wal-Mart among the worst-performing stocks in the index.
The S&P 500 gained 2.89 points to 2,581.74, with telecommunications as the best-performing sector and energy the worst performer.
The NASDAQ Composite improved 7.04 points to 6,789.83
In a note to clients, Goldman Sachs said they downgraded the stock to neutral from buy "as the firm's progress in growing earnings while investing in its business has been recognized by the market, as the stock's multiple has surged."
Wal-Mart was the fourth-best-performing stock on the Dow entering Monday's session, surging 41% On Monday, however, it fell 1%.
This will be a short week for Wall Street as the U.S. stock market will be closed Thursday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Trading volumes usually drop during shortened trading weeks, opening up the door for more volatile moves.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note faded a bit Monday, raising yields to 2.36% from Friday’s 2.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 52 cents a barrel to $56.03 U.S.
Gold prices slipped $10.10 to $1,286.40 U.S. an ounce.
