The Toronto stock market was little changed Monday afternoon as buyers made tentative moves to pick up non-resource stocks hammered last week during the course of a selloff sparked by plunging oil prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 25.91 points to end the day at 13,705.14
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.44 cents to 85.82 cents U.S.
Talisman Energy was a major advancer with its stock ahead 91 cents or 18.1% to $5.95 amid confirmation Monday that it is engaged in discussions with Spanish oil major Repsol regarding a potential transaction. Repsol said separately that its board will discuss a potential bid for 100% of Talisman.
Commodities were also pressured by a U.S. dollar which strengthened ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement on Wednesday. Rates are expected to start rising sometime in 2015 but the timing is unclear.
The Fed has committed to keeping short term rates ultra-low "for a considerable period of time" for several years and markets will look to see if there is any change in that wording.
The gold sector fell as Barrick Gold tumbled $1.06, or 8.1%, to $12.21, while Goldcorp dipped $1.40, or 6.4%, to $20.40.
March copper fell six cents to $2.88 U.S. a pound and the base metals component declined. Teck Resources progressed 15 cents, or 1.2%, however, to $12.97.
Cushioning the fall somewhat was a surge in consumer staples, most notably Alimentation Couche-Tard, leaping $1.69, or 4.1%, to $42.53.
The Canadian Real Estate Association reported national home sales activity was unchanged on a month-over-month basis in November 2014. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 2.7% above November 2013 levels.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faltered 10.44 points to 643.34
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers, consumer staples leading the former group, up 1.3%, while consumer discretionary issues tacked on 1%, and industrials were better by 0.7%.
The seven laggards were weighed most by gold, retreating 6%, materials, fading 3.1%, and energy, down 1.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks veered wildly on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading in a more than 300-point range on either side of neutral as investors monitored the price of oil.
The Dow Jones Industrials shed 99.99 points to close at 17,180.84, with McDonald's leading blue-chip losses that included 21 of 30 components.
The S&P 500 backslid 12.70 points to 1,989.63, with utilities pacing losses and telecommunications the sole sector of 10 major industry groups on the rise.
The NASDAQ index dipped 48.44 points to 4,605.16
The Dow moved up and down more than 100 points during Monday's session, and event that last occurred on June 12, 2013.
PetSmart gained after agreeing to be purchased for about $8.25 billion U.S. by a group led by BC Partners.
Equities offered muted reaction to a gauge of home-builder sentiment falling a point in December after a large jump last month.
What’s more, a U.S. Federal Reserve report had industrial production rebounding in November, after a Fed measure of manufacturing in the New York region dropped in December.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dipped, raising yields to 2.12% from Friday’s 2.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices collapsed $2.61 per barrel to $55.20 U.S.
Gold prices tumbled $29.20 an ounce at $1,193.30 U.S.
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