The Toronto stock market closed lower as another round of worry centred on the euro-zone encouraged investors to take some profits from last month’s strong gains.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 51.21 points to 12,717.62 while the Canadian dollar lost 0.17 of a cent to 100.16 cents U.S.
The declines followed a strong January which saw the TSX advance 2% while the Dow industrials surged six per cent. And analysts observe that a pullback after a boost of that size is not surprising.
BlackBerry jumped 15% after Bernstein Research upgraded the stock to outperform a day before the consumer launch in Canada of its new Z10 product.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 12.16 points to 1,216.50
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 129.71 points to close at 13,880.08
The S&P 500 index dove 17.46 points to 1,495.71. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite moved downward 47.93 points to 3,131.17
The selloff comes after a strong rally for U.S. stocks in January. The Dow gained 5.9% last month, making it the best January performance since 1994. Given the recent strength, many analysts had suggested that stocks were due for a pullback.
Yum! Brands will report after the close. Disney and BP will release quarterly results on Tuesday.
On the economic front, the U.S. Census Bureau said new orders for manufactured goods rose 1.8% in December, which was weaker than expected. Economists had forecast a 2.4% increase in orders, according to estimates from Briefing.com
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury picked up some ground, lowering yields to 1.97% from Friday 2.01%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sagged $1.68 to $96.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged ahead $3.80 to $1,674.40 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
