Canada's main stock index opened lower on Monday as hotter-than-expected domestic annual inflation data dented risk appetite, while gains in energy shares offered limited support.
The TSX restocked 79.54 points to open Monday at 36,766.92.
The Canadian dollar gained 1.2 cents to 72.22 cents U.S.
In earnings reported late on Friday, financial software company Abaxx Technologies' net loss widened in the second quarter. Abaxx shares descended $2.06, or 7.6%, to $25.10.
Separately, OceanaGold plans to acquire Australia's Ausgold in a deal valued at A$776 million ($552.74 million U.S.), the companies said on Monday. OceanaGold shares acquired $1.44, or 3.6%, to $41.18.
On the geopolitical front, Iran called on the U.S. to accept defeat on Saturday, while President Donald Trump blasted Tehran as "very evil" and told Americans to prepare for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reports the consumer price index rose 3.0% year over year in July, following a 2.8% gain in June. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.3% in July.
As well, Statistics Canada said 190,167 new motor vehicles were sold in Canada, an increase of 7.3% from the same month the previous year. In dollar terms, sales increased 9.1% in June compared with one year earlier.
Foreign investors added $40.8 billion of Canadian securities to their holdings in June, mainly acquisitions of federal government debt securities and private corporate bonds. Meanwhile, Canadian investors acquired $35.4 billion of foreign securities, primarily US corporate shares and bonds.
Finally, Federal Trade Minister Dominic Leblanc said Canada and the U.S. are still far from reaching a draft trade deal despite regular meetings.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched forward 0.09 points to 970.42.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split, with energy stocks leading gainers, up 1%, while gold and materials each progressed 0.8%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, off 1.5%, while information technology dropped 1.1%, and consumer staples settled 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Monday as growing artificial intelligence optimism among investors was measured against tensions in the Middle East.
The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 166.40 points Monday to 53,566.01.
The much-broader index dipped 9.21 points to 7,726.55.
The NASDAQ Composite peeked up 2.1 points to 26,731.31.
Micron Technology was a winner in the session, rising more than 4%. Last week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told The Wall Street Journal that the Trump administration is not in support of Apple buying memory chips from China.
Bloomberg News also reported that Anthropic’s second-quarter revenue was more than $11.5 billion — a massive jump from a year earlier. Other chip stocks such as Broadcom and Nvidia were higher as well.
However, oil prices ticked higher after a senior Iranian official told Reuters that the country would shift to an offensive posture if diplomacy with the U.S. fails. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures last traded above $82 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude futures were last above $88 a barrel.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury wavered, boosting yields to 4.70% from Friday’s 4.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added two cents to $82.42 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $45.60 to $4,482.90 U.S. an ounce.
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