Stocks hesitated by the close in Toronto, as energy tumbled Monday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 65.97 points to close the day at 16,093.56
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.31 cents to 78.35 cents U.S.
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd rose $1.14, or 6.5%, to $18.80 after Desjardins raised the stock to a “buy” recommendation and increased its price target for the stock to $24.00
Barrick Gold cleared breakeven by 14 cents to $18.20.
In the health-care field, Aphria galloped $1.85, or 18.1%, to $12.06, while Aurora Cannabis vaulted $1.01, or 14%, to $8.25.
Telecoms also beamed into the green, as BCE jumped 56 cents to $62.29.
On the downside, Enbridge was off $1.11, or 2.3%, at $46.29 and producer Canadian Natural Resources Ltd fell $1.26, or 2.9%, to $42.81.
In real-estate, Colliers International collapsed $1.27, or 1.6%, to $78.48.
In other resource stocks, First Quantum Minerals subsided 41 cents, or 2.6%, to $15.49.
Hudson’s Bay Co was down 14 cents, or 1.2%, at $11.17 after the retailer said almost two-thirds of its shareholders support Rhone Capital’s $500-million investment, which is opposed by activist fund Land and Buildings LLC.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.38 points to 795.39
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided as gold brightened 1.1%, while health-care strengthened 0.6%, and telecoms upped 0.4%
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, plummeting 2.3%, while real-estate retreated 0.4%, and materials surrendered 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Retailers closed higher on Monday as investors bet on strong sales during the holiday season following a strong Black Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained afloat 22.79 points to finish Monday at 23,580.78, just missing a record close. However, the index did manage to hit an intraday record of 23,638.92.
The S&P 500 gave back one point to 2,601.42, as a 6.7% pullback in Western Digital offset a 4% gain in L Brands.
The NASDAQ Composite faded 10.64 points from Friday’s all-time high, to 6,878.52
Macy's and Kohl's rose session highs. Gap shares, meanwhile closed 1.2% higher after Wall Street analysts dubbed the company the "weekend winner."
E-commerce giant Amazon gained 0.8% as data from Adobe Analytics showed online Black Friday sales rose nearly 17% from last year. The stock, however, finished below a record high set earlier in the session.
The Senate is expected to vote on a bill aimed at reforming the U.S. tax code on Thursday. Investors have been eagerly awaiting tax reform since last year's election, but doubts about whether the Republican-led Congress would be able to achieve this before year-end have lingered.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained back lost ground, lowering yields back to Friday’s 2.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.04 a barrel to $57.91 U.S.
Gold prices gained $6.30 to $1,293.60 U.S. an ounce.
