Canada's main stock index was flat at the open on Monday, after closing at a record high in the previous session, as gains in energy stocks were offset by declines across other sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index inched up 3.2 points to open Monday at 16,616.01
The Canadian dollar lost 0.21 cents at 74.70 cents U.S.
CIBC raised the target price on Canopy Growth to $80.00 from $75.00. Canopy shares vaulted 92 cents, or 1.5%, to $60.56.
Credit Suisse cut the price target on Largo Resources to $1.60 from $2.00. Largo dipped two cents, or 1.2%, to $1.64.
Eight Capital raised the price target on PrairieSky Royalty to $19.15 from $17.50. PrairieSky shares gained 24 cents, or 1.3%, to $19.27.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 1.23 points to open the day and the week at 610.44
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups began the day on the downside, with consumer discretionary sliding 0.5%, gold off 0.4%, industrials off 0.3%.
The four gainers were led by energy, climbing 1.1%, health-care, haler by 0.4%, and information technology, nosing up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded lower on Monday as Wall Street braced for the busiest week of the earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average backpedaled 67.09 points to 26,492.45
The S&P 500 slid 2.76 points to 2,902.27, on declines in the financials and industrials sectors
The NASDAQ Composite retreated 11.11 points to 7,986.95
Boeing contributed the most to the Dow’s losses, falling 1% after The New York Times reported that workers at the company’s 787 jet plant have complained about shoddy production and bad safety practices.
More than 140 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to release their quarterly results this week, including Coca Cola, Procter & Gamble, United Technologies, Verizon, Twitter, Lockheed Martin and eBay. Facebook, Microsoft and Tesla Motors are also set to report later this week.
Halliburton and Kimberly-Clark are among the companies that reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Monday morning. Halliburton shares rose 1.6% and Kimberly’s spiked 5.3%.
So far, the majority of corporate earnings reports have topped expectations. Data shows 76.5% of the S&P 500 companies that have posted earnings have surpassed analyst estimates. Analysts came into the season with low expectations for the season, forecasting a 4.2% drop in profits.
Wall Street also focused on the oil market as U.S. crude rose 2.2% after the Trump administration said it will not allow the purchase of Iranian oil by some countries. The move could take about one million barrels per day out of the oil market. Energy shares rose along with oil prices.
On the data front, existing home sales for March are expected this morning
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury were lower, boosting yields to 2.58% from Thursday’s 2.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.62 to $65.62 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $1.50 to $1,277.50 U.S. an ounce.
