Stocks in Canada’s largest market couldn’t hold onto earlier gains and finished in the red Monday, as losses in health-care outweighed gains in gold stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index sank 21.6 points to conclude Monday’s session at 16,015.89
The Canadian dollar regained 0.44 cents to 74.39 cents U.S.
Health-care paled in the last hour or so before the closing bell, as Bausch Health Companies surrendered 58 cents, or 2.1%., to $27.48, while Canopy Growth flopped $2.63, or 4.8%, to $51.85.
In the tech field, Shopify dumped $18.43, or 5%, to $353.41, while Constellation Software loosed $29.97, or 2.6%, to $1,140.39
In the energy sector, Suncor demurred $1.05, or 2.5%, to $40.60, while Canadian Natural Resources lost 85 cents, or 2.3%, to $35.66.
Gold lent strength to the markets Monday, with Kirkland Lake Gold surging $2.18, or 4.7%, to $48.93, while Barrick Gold headed upward 76 cents, or 4.5%, to $17.57.
Materials were stronger, as First Quantum Minerals added 20 cents, or 2%, to $10.04, while Norbord gained a dollar, or 3.8%, to $27.40
Among consumer staples, Metro gained 12 cents to $49.45.
On the economic calendar, IHS Markit Canada reported that its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped from 49.7 in April to 49.1 in May, signaling a second successive monthly deterioration in business conditions.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange got tagged 6.83 points to 594.72.
Seven of the 12 Toronto subgroups lost ground Monday, with health-care, plunging 4%, information technology, sliding 3.2%, and energy, dumping 1.6%.
The five gainers were led by gold, surging 3.2%, materials, better by 2.7%, and consumer staples, inching up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Tech stocks fell on Monday, June’s first day of trading, amid reports that the U.S. government is planning to target a host of big companies in the industry with anti-trust and business practice probes. Shares of Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook and Apple all weighed on the market during Monday’s session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 4.74 points to close at 24,819.78. The Dow came into Monday’s session having logged in six straight weeks of losses, the index’s longest weekly slide since 2011.
The S&P 500 dropped 7.61 points to 2,744.45
The NASDAQ Composite plunged 120.13 points to 7,333.02, to enter correction territory, closing more than 10% below its record high set in late April.
Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America all traded higher. Apple shares’ climbed 0.9%.
Alphabet shares pulled back 6.1% after reports said the Justice Department is preparing to launch an antitrust probe on Google. Meanwhile, Facebook dropped 7.5% after The Wall Street Journal reported the Federal Trade Commission would be able to look into Facebook’s practices and how they impact digital competition.
Amazon shares fell 4.6% after The Washington Post said an arrangement between the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department put the e-commerce giant under the FTC’s microscope. Apple also slipped 1% after Reuters reported the Justice Department received jurisdiction to investigate the company’s practices.
Communications services, consumer discretionary and tech were the worst-performing sectors in the S&P 500 on Monday. Communications dropped more than 2.5%, its biggest one-day drop since late October, while consumer and tech both closed more than 1% lower.
On the data front, a final reading of manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) showed manufacturing activity slowed to its slowest pace since September 2009. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index for May, construction spending figures for April and latest light vehicle sales data will all follow slightly later in the session.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, weighing yields 2.08% from Friday’s 2.13%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 66 cents to $52.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $19.20 at $1,323.70 U.S. an ounce.
