Stocks in Canada’s biggest centre eased on Monday as slim gains by heavily weighted financial shares were offset by drops in energy companies on lower oil prices, with the market staying cautious as it continued to digest Friday's U.S. employment data.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell back 19.47 points to pause for lunch hour at 15,150.55
The Canadian dollar inched back 0.20 cents to 82.59 cents U.S.
Telecoms also shied lower, as Manitoba Telecom Services demurred 62 cents, or 2.4%, to $25.75.
Among energy issues, Canadian Energy Services fell 23 cents, or 4%, to $5.57.
Utilities led the list of gainers, as Emera Inc. picked up $1.00, or 2.4%, to $42.05.
Among health-care issues, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International rose 0.6% to $269.49.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 1.67 points to 692.82
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups lost ground by noon, as telecoms settled 0.6%, energy stocks were 0.5% less energetic, and metals and mining dove 0.4%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by utilities, up 0.9%, while health-care and consumer staples were each up 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range on Monday, following a strong rally on Friday's jobs report, as investors awaited the week's data releases.
The Dow Jones Industrials capsized 56.57 points to 18,134.54, with Caterpillar leading advancers and Travelers the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 index moved downward 4.28 points to 2,111.82, with utilities leading six sectors higher and energy the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ eked up 7.46 points to 5,011.01
Dish Network saw revenue rise 3.6% in its latest quarter, compared to a year ago, even though overall subscriber numbers dropped. The satellite TV operator now makes an average $86.01 U.S. per subscriber compared to $82.36 U.S. a year ago.
Actavis reported adjusted quarterly profit of $4.30 U.S. per share, above estimates of $3.93 U.S., with revenue also above Street forecasts on higher sales of its branded drugs in North America.
Rosetta Resources will be acquired by fellow energy producer Noble Energy in an all-stock transaction valued at $2.1 billion U.S. Rosetta shareholders will receive 0.542 Noble shares for each share they now hold, an implied value of $26.62 U.S. per share.
Hilton Worldwide announced a 90-million-share secondary offering, with the shares coming from stockholders affiliated with Blackstone Group. Hilton will not receive any proceeds from the offering.
Sotheby's reported adjusted quarterly profit of seven cents per share, beating expectations for a breakeven quarter. Revenue also exceeded forecasts, as auction sales and commissions rose compared to a year earlier.
Caterpillar gained 2% and Joy Global gained more than 5% as both stocks were upgraded to "outperform" from "neutral" at Baird, saying the worst may be over for the commodity deflation cycle.
Cisco Systems spiked jumped more than 1.5% as one of the blue chip leaders. Pacific Crest upgraded the networking equipment maker to "overweight" from "sector weight," citing the beginning of a multi-quarter recovery driven by new product cycles.
No major economic news or earnings reports are expected Monday. Retail sales and industrial production figures come out later in the week. Yields edged higher, stabilizing after a rapid rally last week. The dollar edged slightly higher, with the euro at $1.114 U.S. Oil held near recent highs.
Europe is in focus as the euro-zone finance ministers meet on Monday and Greece faces a payment deadline to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday.
European equities were lower Monday, pausing after a rally on Friday, and overlooking the news that China has cut interest rates for the third time in six months.
The People's Bank of China announced the cut in its benchmark lending rate and one-year deposit rates by 25 basis points on Sunday, as growth in the Asian economic giant slowed to levels not seen since the global financial crisis.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries sagged, raising yields to 2.19% from Friday’s 2.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 22 cents to $59.61 U.S.
Gold prices gained 60 cents to $1,189.50 U.S.
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