Canadian stocks were somewhat flat on Monday as industrials and telecom services sectors offset losses in consumer discretionary and real estate shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index stumbled 17.26 points by the close to 12,479.70.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.43 cents at 101.26 cents U.S.
Among the industrials, Bombardier Inc. inched up three cents to $4.08, and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rallied 22 cents to $77.49. Canadian National Railway Co. gained 46 cents, or 0.6%, to $78.95.
Mining companies were mixed with Kinross Gold Corp. down six cents to $9.84, and Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. down 65 cents, or 1.9%, to $32.79.
Research In Motion Ltd., which had surged more than 7% on Friday, slid eight cents, or 0.6%, to $14.28.
In the energy field, Suncor Inc. galloped ahead 60 cents, or 1.3%, to $33.52, while rival Imperial Oil dipped 50 cents, or 1.1%, to $46.50.
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported this morning that wholesale sales dipped 1.0% in January to $49.0 billion, due mostly to lower sales of cars, trucks and the parts to keep them going.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange skidded 7.39 points to 1,598.78 while the Nasdaq Canada index remained 2.22 points higher to 421.14
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between winners and losers, with energy and global base metals stocks each climbing 0.7%, while industrials gained 0.4%.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by real-estate, off 1.3%, gold, down 1%, and materials, subsiding 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, after a morning of choppiness, stocks were holding on to modest gains in late trading.
The Dow Jones Industrials closed the day up but 6.51 points to 13,239.10.
The S&P 500 tacked on 5.57 points to 1,409.74, while the Nasdaq added 23.06 points to 3,078.32.
Ahead of the opening bell Monday, Apple said it would pay a quarterly dividend of $2.65 U.S. a share. The company will also buy back $10 billion U.S. of its own shares over the next three years.
Just last week, Apple's stock topped $600 U.S. for the first time ever, fueled by record iPhone and iPad sales growth. Apple shares jumped following the dividend/buyback announcement, remaining just shy of $600 U.S.
Also in focus were bank stocks, following reports that the Federal Reserve made some minor corrections to its stress test results. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley shares gained in late trade.
Shares of Bank of America rose to top $10 U.S. for the first time since August, before turning lower.
Shares of Sprint Nextel fell after Craig Moffett, an analyst at research firm Sanford C. Bernstein, downgraded the stock to "underperform." Moffett cited, among other issues, concerns about Sprint's ability to sell millions of iPhones given the high costs of network upgrades.
Starbucks will open its first Evolution Fresh juice bar on Monday in Bellevue, Wash., four months after the coffee giant acquired the juice business. Starbucks will also start distribution of the brand to grocery stores on Monday.
The advisory board of European shipper TNT Express said they are recommending that shareholders accept the terms of a $6.8-billion U.S. all-cash offer from UPS. Shares of Domino's Pizza rose after the company announced a one-time dividend of $3 U.S. per share to be paid on April 2.
Economically speaking, the Treasury Department said early Monday that it made taxpayers a hefty $25-billion U.S. profit by getting rid of one of its financial-crisis era portfolios of mortgage-backed securities.
Housing will be in focus this week, with reports due on new home sales, housing starts and existing home sales.
While recent reports on the job market and the banking sector have given credence to beliefs that the economy is on the mend, the housing market is still struggling. Last month, the National Association of Realtors said home prices fell to their lowest point in more than a decade in January.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury collapsed, pushing the yield up to 2.38% from 2.30% Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery gained 94 cents to $108.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold for April added $11.50 to settle at $1,667.30 U.S. an ounce.
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