Stocks in Toronto fell on Monday as lower oil prices weighed on energy stocks, offsetting gains for telecom stocks after BCE Inc said it would buy Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index plunged 108.19 points Monday to begin May at 13,843.26
The Canadian dollar gained 0.1 cents to 79.77 cents U.S.
BCE announced this morning it will purchase all of the issued and outstanding common shares of MTS in a deal valued at $3.9 billion.
MTS shares screamed higher $5.14, or 15.7%, to $37.98, while BCE shares advanced 63 cents, or 1.1%, to $59.47.
Documents obtained by Reuters show that Canadian National Railway struggled to keep some heavily used track in adequate repair even after a string of derailments last year showed the danger of moving oil on poorly maintained track.
CN shares dropped 50 cents to $76.76.
CIBC raised the target price on Air Canada to $14.00 from $12.00. The Maple Leaf airline saw its shares climb 20 cents, or 2.1%, to $9.53.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Bank of Montreal to $85.00 from $82.00. BMO shares sank 24 cents to $81.50.
BMO cut the target price on Constellation Software to $530.00 from $580.00, maintaining market perform. Constellation shares dwindled $7.50, or 1.4%, to $482.99.
Economically speaking, the RBC Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index registered 52.2 in April, up slightly from 51.5 in March and above the neutral 50.0 threshold for the second month running.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained another 3.75 points to 678.62
Among the 13 TSX subgroups, telecoms proved the only gainer, muscling up 4.2%.
Beyond that, it was rough going, with health-care fading 2.5%, energy failing 2.4%, and financials down 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded narrowly mixed Monday, the first trading day of the month, after key manufacturing data.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved ahead 70.09 points to 17,843.73, with Verizon leading advancers and Caterpillar the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 regained 2.52 points to 2,067.82, with telecoms leading six sectors higher and energy the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ Composite Index recouped 14.42 points to 4,789.78. Shares of Apple held about 1% lower in morning trade. The stock lost about 14% in April, its worst month since January 2013.
On the economic front, the final Markit U.S. manufacturing PMI fell to 50.8 in April from 51.5 in March.
ISM manufacturing for April was 50.8, down from 51.8 in March. Construction spending for March rose 0.3%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded, raising yields to 1.86% from Friday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices slipped 69 cents a barrel to $45.23 U.S.
Gold prices slid 19 cents to $1,293.34 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
