Equities in Canada’s largest centre fell on Monday as investors positioned themselves ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve decision this week, while commodity prices, under pressure from the latest tepid data out of China, dragged on resource stocks.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved lower 57.2 points to greet noon at 13,404.27
The Canadian dollar was virtually unchanged at 75.4 cents U.S.
The Fed had been indicating it planned to hike rates at some point this year, but recent worries about global growth and lackluster Chinese economic data have raised the possibility the U.S. central bank could delay any increase to next year.
Suncor Energy was among the bigger drags on the index, falling 1.1% to $33.70.
Bombardier, which had soared some 58% last week after Reuters reported the company rejected an offer by Beijing Infrastructure to acquire a majority or full stake in its rail unit, gave back 10.8% to $1.66 and was another top decliner.
Volatility in commodity prices due to worries over the Chinese economy, currency swings, economic data, inflation and deflation, also added to the market's recent uncertainties.
Bank of Montreal was up 0.8% at $69.50.
Stronger gold miners also tempered some of the losses within the overall materials group, which sank, as Goldcorp advanced 2.4% to $17.16.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 0.37 points to 547.57
All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower, with metals and mining falling 3.1%, global base metals off 1.6%, and energy, sliding 1.2%
The two gainers were gold, up 0.7%, and financials, up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower Monday as investors weighed mostly negative stock performance overseas and eyed the Federal Reserve meeting later in the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 85.01 points to 16,348.08, with Visa leading decliners and Apple leading a handful of advancers.
The S&P 500 moved down 9.71 points to 1,951.34, with energy leading nine sectors lower and utilities the only advancer.
The NASDAQ index slid 24.33 points to 4,798.01.
Apple led blue chip advancers with a gain of about 1% amid positive reports on new iPhone demand. IBM was the greatest negative weight on the blue chip index.
Barron's cover story said Alibaba could plunge 50% from current levels based on its price-to-earnings ratio with other tech companies, market share, and other factors. The Chinese e-commerce giant responded with a letter on its website outlining what it considered inconsistencies in the article's analysis. The stock fell more than 4.5% in morning trade.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields to 2.17% from Friday’s 2.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 78 cents a barrel to $43.85 U.S.
Gold prices gained $4.40 to $1,107.70 U.S. an ounce.
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