The Toronto stock market remained negative Monday noon, led by declining oil and mining stocks as investors nibbled at profits from last week's sharp runup.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 72.08 points to greet noon at 12,664.84
The Canadian dollar squeaked 0.06 cents higher to 96.75cents U.S.
The mining sector led TSX decliners as September copper dipped three cents to $3.33 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources fell 36 cents to $28.34.
The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was off the worst levels of the session, and the energy sector was down, as Canadian Natural Resources declined 54 cents to $30.96.
The gold sector lost ground as Iamgold faded six cents to $6.47 but Goldcorp Inc. rose 26 cents to $32.35.
Outside of the resource sector, financials were also a major drag, down 0.5 per cent with Manulife Financial down 33 cents to $17.33.
Consumer staples also weighed with grocer Loblaw Cos. down $1.12 to $45.42.
In corporate news, American retailer Saks released its financial report a day early and like Wal-Mart, Macy's and Nordstrom last week, disappointed Wall Street. Saks' loss of $19.6 million U.S. was even deeper than analysts had expected.
Saks didn't hold a conference call because it's being acquired by Hudson's Bay Co. and it gave no outlook. On the TSX, HBC stock rose five cents to $17.33.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sagged 3.60 points to 936.63
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower to begin the afternoon, weighed mostly by utilities, down 1%, while energy and consumer staples went south 0.9% each.
The two gainers were gold, up 0.4%, and materials, up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks barely moved Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrials had slid 12.71 points midday to 15,068.80
The S&P 500 index docked 1.97 points to 1,653.86. The NASDAQ tacked on 15.25 points to 3,618.03
Shares of Chesapeake Energy advanced following news that Carl Icahn boosted his stake in the natural gas company to almost 10%.
Apple, which Icahn announced a "large" position in last week, also continued to climb, hitting the highest level in seven months.
There was also plenty of chatter about Intel, which was upgraded to "neutral" by analysts at Piper Jaffray.
The earnings calendar was light Monday, but results are due from J.C. Penney, Target and Hewlett-Packard later in the week.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, raising yields to 2.87% from Friday’s 2.83%. Treasury price and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 50 cents to $106.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subtracted $8.10 to $1,362.90 U.S. an ounce.
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