Markets in Toronto opened lower on Monday, with gold miners and some banks weighing heavily as bullion headed for its biggest annual loss in 32 years.
The S&P/TSX composite index eased 6.74 points to begin trading Monday at 13,581.24
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.18 cents to 93.62 cents U.S.
As mentioned, gold miners were hit the hardest, as Allied Nevada Gold tumbled 12 cents, or 3.1%, to $3.77. Shares in Kinross Gold lost 4.5 cents, or nearly 1%, to open at $4.67.
Health-care issues were also sickly in the early going, as Catamaran Corporation dipped 64 cents, or 1.3%, to $50.71, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals fell 19 cents to $121.41.
Information technology stocks, on the other hand, moved forward, with Constellation Software shares climbing $6.39, or nearly 3%, to $223.00, and BlackBerry up nine cents to $7.92.
Also on the rise were consumer staples, in particular, Loblaw, up 34 cents, or 0.8%, to $42.34, and Alimentation Couche-Tard, up 56 cents, or 0.7%, to $79.31.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.47 points to 919.50
The 14 TSX subgroups were evenly divided among gainers and losers. Information technology led the former half, up 0.9%, while consumer staples and global base metals each moved forward 0.4%.
The seven laggards were weighed by gold, down 0.8%, while health-care and materials each slid 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks south of the border were in a holding pattern Monday, with little economic or corporate news to drive the market on the next-to-last trading day of 2013.
The Dow Jones industrial average inched up 8.54 points to begin the week at 16,486.95
The S&P 500 index moved lower 0.88 points to 1,840.52. The NASDAQ sank 7.25 points to 4,149.34.
Trading volumes are expected to be low this week as many investors and traders take time off work. U.S. markets will be closed Wednesday for New Year's Day.
Stocks ended little changed Friday but they're capping off a stellar year.
All three indexes have risen more than 25% in 2013. The Dow is on track for its biggest annual gain since 1996, and the S&P 500 is on pace for its strongest year since 1997.
Crocs shares surged after private equity firm Blackstone Group agreed to invest about $200 million U.S. in the company. Crocs also announced a $350-million U.S. stock buyback and said CEO John McCarvel was retiring.
Shares of Alcoa edged lower amid reports that Ford will reveal in January that it will use military grade Alcoa metal in its best-selling F-150 pickups.
Cooper Tire & Rubber canceled plans to be bought by India-based Apollo Tyres for $2.5 billion U.S. The companies announced the deal in June, but Cooper said Apollo breached the agreement and that its financing had fallen through.
Shares of Twitter fell 6%, extending Friday's sharp losses. The selling comes after a strong rally over the past few weeks. Twitter shares have gained 130% since the company's November IPO.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.98% from Friday’s 3.01%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 29 cents to $100.03 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices discarded $8.70 to $1,205.30 U.S. an ounce.
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