Canada's main stock index opened lower on Monday, as a fall in crude oil prices weighed on shares of energy companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index staggered 50.45 points to start Monday at 14,744.20
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.16 cents to 74.86 U.S.
Canaccord Genuity raised the price target on Cronos Group to $17.00 from $9.00, citing significant injection of cash from Altria's $2.4-billion investment.
Cronos shares backpedaled 51 cents, or 3%, to $16.55
On the economic calendar, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation announced the trend in housing starts was 210,038 units in November, compared to 206,460 units in October.
Statistics Canada said Canadian municipalities issued $8.1 billion worth of building permits in October, edging down 0.2% from September, a downswing attributable to lower construction intentions for industrial and institutional buildings.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 0.97 points to 571.41.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups began the day negatively, as energy and communications stocks each dipped 0.8%, while utilities dived 0.5%.
The four gainers were led by information technology, marching 1%, gold, shining brighter 0.7%, consumer staples acquired 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded lower Monday in a volatile session as bank and Apple shares led the decline. Fears of an intensifying trade war between the United States and China contributed to the day’s volatility.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 205.72 points to open Monday at 24,183.23, dipping into correction territory, as declines in Apple and Goldman Sachs led the losses.
The S&P 500 faded 17.99 points to 2,615.09, as the financials sector pulled back 1.6%.
The NASDAQ docked 3.46 points to 6,969.79, as a gain in Facebook curbed some of the losses in Apple’s stock
Monday’s moves come after a volatile week for investors. The Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite all posted their worst weekly performances since March last week, falling more than 4% each
Shares in banks got roughed up. Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley all fell more than 1.5%.
Apple shares fell 2.4% after a Chinese court granted Qualcomm an injunction against Apple. It is unclear how the injunction will impact Apple’s sales in China, however. Qualcomm says the order bans Apple iPhone imports and sales in China. Apple, meanwhile, says it only impacts sales of phones running an older operating system.
On Sunday, China summoned the U.S. ambassador to Beijing to protest Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s detention. Reuters reported, citing the state-run Xinhua News Agency, that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng called Meng’s arrest “extremely egregious.”
The arrest is seen as a potential deterrent to the U.S. and China reaching a permanent deal on trade. Huawei is one of the largest tech companies in China and is seen as symbol of pride by the Chinese government. Meng is scheduled to appear at a bail hearing in Vancouver later on Monday.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury edged upward, lowering yields to 2.85% from Friday’s 2.86%. Treasury prices move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $1.08 to $51.53 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $1.60 to $1,251.00 U.S. an ounce.
