Equities in Canada’s largest market edged lower on Monday, as the shares of material companies fell due to a drop in gold prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slid 18.76 points to begin Monday at 16,230.96
The Canadian dollar zoomed 0.45 cents to 75.30 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were shares of Superior Plus, which jumped 46 cents, or 3.8%, to $12.70, followed by Cronos Group, which rose 79 cents, or 3.7%, to $21.91.
Gold miner Kirkland Lake Gold dropped 88 cents, or 1.8%, to $48.98, followed by shares of Iamgold, which fell 11 cents, or 3%, to $3.51.
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Stelco Holdings to sector perform from outperform. Stelco shares took on six cents to $13.97.
On the economic slate, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's seasonally-adjusted annual rates of housing starts fell to 202,300 units in May, from a downwardly revised 233,400 in April, missing market expectations of 205,000.
Elsewhere, Statistics Canada reported that Canadian municipalities issued a record $9.3 billion worth of building permits in April. The increase in the value of permits was almost entirely due to a planned change in development costs in Metro Vancouver.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.1 points to 597.64
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups faded in the first hour on Monday, as gold tumbled 2.5%, materials lost 1.3%, and communications sank 0.4%.
The four gainers were led north by health-care, vaulting 1.8%, consumer discretionary, up 0.6%, and information technology, gaining 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Monday, extending last week’s big gains, after the U.S. reached an agreement with Mexico on tariffs, easing some of the trade concerns which have weighed on the market since early May.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average vaulted 156.69 points to start out at 26,140.63.
The S&P 500 gained 20.16 points to 2,893.50,
The NASDAQ Composite popped 94.41 points, or 1.2%, to 7,836.68.
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that proposed tariffs on Mexican imports would be suspended indefinitely. Trump said in a Twitter post that he has "full confidence" that Mexico will crack down on migration from Central America, after the two neighbors reached a consensus.
Shares of GM and Ford, two companies that had a lot to lose in a trade battle with Mexico because of their production there, both jumped more than 1% on Monday.
Meanwhile, investors are closely monitoring the development in the U.S.-China trade war. Trump told reporters on Monday that he believes China will make a deal with the U.S. “because they’re going to have to.”
Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to meet at the G-20 Summit later this month after both countries slapped tariffs and made tit-for-tat threats
The White House acting budget chief is reportedly seeking to delay the restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei, which would halt its ability to purchase U.S.-made chips. Chipmakers Nvidia added 2.8%, and Advanced Micro Devices gained 4% on Monday following the news.
Adding to the bullish sentiment on Monday was a blockbuster deal in the aerospace industry. Raytheon and United Technologies agreed to an all-stock merger that would create a combined company with $74 billion in annual sales. Both shares surged in pre-market trading. Shares of Raytheon rose 1.2%, while shares of United Technologies fell about 1%.
Salesforce.com announced its acquisition of big gettdata company Tableau Software on Monday. The $15.3 billion all-stock deal marks the biggest purchase in the company’s history. Tableau’s stock surged 37% on Monday and Salesforce.com fell more than 3%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury dipped, lifting yields to 2.13% from Friday’s 2.08%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subsided 19 cents to $53.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $13.40 at $1,345.30 U.S. an ounce.
