Stocks in Canada’s largest market moved lower, as lower oil and metal prices weighed on energy and mining stocks, offsetting gains for a major consumer staples company after it said it would buy a U.S. convenience store chain
The S&P/TSX Composite slid 60.32 points to begin the day and week at 14,627.14.
The Canadian dollar erased 0.31 cents to 77.43 cents U.S.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has named Zoetis executive Paul Herendeen as its chief financial officer, replacing Robert Rosiello, the latest in a series of management changes at the Canadian drug maker.
Valeant shares rocketed $2.17, or 5.9%, to $39.13.
Convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard said it agreed to buy U.S. convenience store retailer CST Brands Inc in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion U.S., including debt.
Couche-Tard shares jumped $3.96, or 6.4%, to $66.11.
BMO cut the rating on Absolute Software to market perform. Absolute shares docked 33 cents, or 4.2%, to $7.56.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales increased for a third consecutive month in June, up 0.7% to $56.4 billion. Four of the seven sub-sectors, representing 68% of wholesale sales, recorded gains.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped 5.31 points to 827.8
All but three of the 12 subgroups were lower in the first hour of trade, as gold and energy prices each subsided 1.5%, while materials docked 1.4%.
The three gainers were consumer staples, up 2.2%, health-care, vaulting 2%, and real-estate, off 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Monday as investors looked ahead to a key speech from the top Federal Reserve official and digested falling oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials docked 55.81 points at 18,496.76, with Caterpillar leading decliners and Pfizer the top advancer.
The S&P 500 fell 5.13 points to 2,178.74, with energy dropping about 1%.
The NASDAQ Composite lost 4.32 points to 5,234.06, with Apple downing 0.5%.
Dow-component Pfizer agreed to buy U.S. drug company Medivation for $81.50 a share, or about $14 billion U.S. Shares of Medivation rose nearly 20%, while Pfizer's stock gained about 0.4%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury strengthened, lowering yields to 1.56% from Friday’s 1.58%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.30 a barrel to $47.22 U.S.
Gold prices slid $6.10 to $1,340.10 U.S. an ounce.
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