Equities in Toronto fell to a more than two-year low on Monday as energy and mining stocks weighed amid signs of a worsening oil glut and losses in gold and copper prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index plummeted 151.03 points, or 1.2%, to greet Monday’s noon at 12,638.92. The index touched its lowest level since September 2013 in the first hour of trade, and lost 4.3% last week.
The Canadian dollar regained 0.13 cents to 72.82 cents U.S.
Encana Corp fell 9% to $7.56 after the oil and natural gas producer slashed its dividend and cut its 2016 capital budget. Suncor Energy declined 2% to $34.52.
Oil prices tumbled 4%, nearing an 11-year low on growing fears a global oil glut would worsen in coming months in a pricing war between leading OPEC and non-OPEC producers.
Goldcorp Inc fell 2.8% to $16.05, while fertilizer producer Potash Corp lost 2.6% to $23.23.
Telecoms climbed, with BCE Inc rising 1% to $54.52, and Telus Corp advancing 0.8% to $39.40.
The consumer staples group climbed, with convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard up 1.1% to $62.02 and grocery store chain Loblaw Cos added 0.9% to $65.21.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 4.89 points to 497.20.
All but one of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, as metals and mining dropped 7%, gold 5%, and materials slid 4.5%
The lone gainer proved to be telecoms, up 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower Monday as investors continued to watch oil prices and weighed concerns about the high-yield debt market, ahead of the Federal Reserve's rates decision later this week.
The Dow Jones industrial average gave back 1.2 points – off its lows of the morning -- to greet noon at 17,264.01, after a Friday plunge of more than 300 points.
Apple traded nearly 3% lower to replace DuPont as the greatest weight on the Dow Jones industrial average, which briefly fell more than 100 points in late-morning trade
The S&P 500 slipped 8.4 points to 2,003.97. Materials traded 2% lower as the greatest decliner in the S&P 500. Freeport-McMoRan, Dow Chemical, Newmont Mining and DuPont were among the greatest decliners in the sector, falling about 4% in midday trade
The S&P 500 briefly fell below the psychologically key level of 2,000 in intraday trade for the first time since mid-October.
The NASDAQ index sank 22.43 points to 4,911.04. .
Dow Chemical and DuPont traded more than 4.5% lower in mid-morning trade Monday. The two chemical giants ended last week with gains of 0.1% and about 4%, respectively, after agreeing to merge in an all-stock deal.
Both Brent and U.S. crude oil have fallen every day since OPEC on Dec. 4 abandoned its output ceiling. In the past six sessions, they have shed more than 13% each.
OPEC has been pumping near record levels since last year in an attempt to drive higher-cost producers such as U.S. shale firms out of the market.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury retreated, raising yields to 2.20% from Friday’s 2.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved 68 cents a barrel to $36.30 U.S.
Gold prices ducked lower $6.67 to $1,068.10 U.S. an ounce.
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