The Toronto stock market subsided by Monday’s amid Chinese economic reform announcements and hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve won't soon reduce monetary stimulus.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 24.51 points Monday to close at 13,458.06
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.06 cents to 95.87 cents U.S.
Fairfax Financial Holdings has signed a deal to buy 51% of the company that operates the Keg steakhouse chain restaurants for an undisclosed sum.
Keg Restaurants Ltd. pays a royalty on sales to Keg Royalties Income Fund which holds trademarks and other intellectual property used by the restaurant chain. Fairfax stock slipped 97 cents to $426.88 while Keg Royalties units gained 10 cents or to $16.26.
Industrials were also positive with Bombardier ahead one cent to $4.65 as the transportation giant secured deals at the Dubai Airshow from two companies for its Q400 turboprop that could potentially be worth up to $423 million U.S. But the company has yet to announce any orders for its new CSeries aircraft at the event.
Bombardier announced the sales a day after Boeing won orders worth almost $100 billion U.S. for its planned 777X long-haul airliner.
The tech sector helped lift the TSX as Open Text gained $2.31 to $90.31 while BlackBerry fell 33 cents to $6.42.
The gold sector led decliners, as Barrick Gold lost 47 cents to $18.43.
The energy sector was down and Canadian Natural Resources gave back 47 cents to $33.63
The base metals component drifted lower with December copper down two cents at $3.15 U.S. a pound. Sherritt International gave up a penny to $3.44.
A noted mining promoter Robert Friedland has released a preliminary economic assessment for a major Congolese copper discovery that he says could be one of the world's lowest-cost producers. The study estimates cash costs of producing copper at the mine at $1.18 U.S. per pound. The December copper contract currently stands at $3.16 U.S. a pound.
The Kamoa project in Democratic Republic of Congo is being developed under Ivanhoe Mines Inc., a company that Friedland leads. Ivanhoe shares ran ahead four cents to $2.16
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that international transactions in Canadian securities hiked to $8.4 billion in September, while we reduced our holdings in offshore investment instruments by $1.5 million.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange finished the day off 12.28 points to 921.79
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower by day’s end, most notably gold, down 2.1%, materials, sliding 1.2%, and energy, off 0.8%.
The five gainers were led by financials, up 0.6%, industrials, ahead 0.2%, and telecoms, inching up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average topped 16,000 for the first time ever Monday, while the S&P 500 briefly surpassed 1,800.
The Dow retreated from the 16,000 level, but still gained 14.32 points from Friday’s all-time high close, to 15,976.
The S&P 500 index dipped 6.65 points to 1,791.53. The NASDAQ fell 36.90 points to 3,949.07
The Dow is up more than 20% so far this year. The S&P 500, despite today’s downward performance, has soared more than 25% in 2013. The NASDAQ was on the verge of a milestone, too, nearing 4,000, a level it hasn't hit since September 2000 -- just months after the tech market collapsed.
Boeing shares rose Monday after the aircraft maker said it sold more than $95 billion U.S. of its new 777X at the Dubai air show. Boeing said it was a record launch for a new aircraft and was far more than analysts had been forecasting. Boeing has been the biggest gainer in the Dow this year, soaring more than 85%.
Boeing has also been the power behind the Dow's rise from 15,000 to 16,000, rising 48% during the six-month period.
Tesla shares dropped 9% Monday, extending the slide that began last month. A series of battery fires have triggered a nearly 40% plunge in shares of Tesla since early October. Still, the stock is up almost 270% so far this year.
Sony shares rose after the company said it sold more than one million units of its new PlayStation 4 gaming console in the first 24 hours since the game console went on sale early Friday. The game system is Sony's first in seven years and is going head-to-head with Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One this holiday season. Shares of Microsoft slipped.
While stocks continued to soar, so did Bitcoin. The price of the digital currency touched an all-time high above $600 earlier Monday, up almost 20% from Friday's closing price of $528.32.
Since the start of October, the price of Bitcoin has more than quadrupled in value.
The latest surge has been fueled by the interest of new investors, especially those in China, who are becoming increasingly optimistic about the digital currency's potential growth.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were higher, lowering yields to 2.68% from Friday’s 2.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices stumbled 88 cents to $92.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shed $15.20 to $1,272.20 U.S. an ounce.
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