Equities in Toronto held steady on Monday, paring earlier losses, as sectors like the influential materials group, turned positive, offsetting a retreat by other groups including energy.
The S&P/TSX composite index recovered 21.91 points to move into afternoon at 14,763.06
The Canadian dollar fell 0.09 cents to 81.12 cents U.S.
Hudson's Bay Co was among the biggest gainers, surging 9.5% to $26.28 after the Canadian department store operator said it was buying German chain Kaufhof from Metro for 2.8 billion euros ($3.2 billion).
The deal also includes an arrangement with Simon Property Group to buy at least 40 of Kaufhof's properties for $3.3 billion.
Perennial index heavy weight, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International fell 0.2% to $281.65, dragging the health care group down.
Also weighing on the index was Canadian Natural Resources, which fell 1.3% to $34.83.
On the upside, the overall financial sector rose, pulled higher by Toronto-Dominion Bank, which climbed 0.4% to $54.19.
Gold miners like Barrick Gold Corp rose 1.7% to $14.09, helped by firmer gold prices.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales in April fell 2.1% to $49.8 billion, the third decline in four months.
Moreover, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported this morning that national home sales activity rose 3.1% from April to May, a fourth consecutive month-over-month increase. CREA also said actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 2.7% above May 2014 levels.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained negative 2.37 points to 679.77.
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were still down, led by metals and mining, declining 0.7%, while energy slid 0.6%, and health-care was 0.5% less hale.
The five gainers were led by gold, shining 1.7% brighter, consumer staples, hiking 1.1%, and materials, up 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks pared losses on Monday after opening sharply lower, following a decline in European equities on the collapse of weekend talks between Greece and its creditors.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off their lows of the morning, but were still negative 103.97 points to greet noon at 17,794.87, still into the red for 2015. United Technologies led nearly all blue chips lower.
The S&P 500 index deferred 7.88 points to 2,086.23. Information technology led declines across all 10 S&P 500 sectors.
The NASDAQ moved lower 23.73 points to 5,027.38, as Apple traded about 0.5% lower.
Target is in focus after drugstore operator CVS Health said it will acquire the retailer's U.S. pharmacy and clinics businesses in a $1.9-billion U.S. deal.
Cigna spiked more than 17% after the health insurance provider rebuffed a takeover approach by larger insurer Anthem, Dow Jones reported.
Economic reports on Monday mostly missed expectations. However, the second-tier data follows recent improvement in retail sales and the labour market.
Empire manufacturing data showed the weakest level in more than two years as new orders fell, Reuters said. The New York Fed's Empire State general business conditions index fell from 3.09 in May to -1.98 in June, hitting its lowest level since January 2013.
May industrial production unexpectedly fell, dropping 0.2% in May.
The National Association of Home Builders housing market index rose more than expected, gaining five points in June to the highest since last September.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Monday that the ECB would continue approving emergency funding for Greek banks as long as they have enough cash and collateral to operate. He added "the ball lies squarely in the camp of the Greek government to take the necessary steps."
Outside of developments in the Greece debt talks, the key event for the week is the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting, which begins on Tuesday and concludes Wednesday afternoon with a statement and press conference. Investors will scrutinize the release for indications on the timing of a short-term interest rate hike, for which consensus is September.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained sharply, lowering yields to 2.35% from Friday’s 2.39%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost 36 cents a barrel to $59.60 U.S.
Gold prices take on $9.60 at $1,188.80 U.S. an ounce.
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