Stocks on Bay St were edging lower Monday morning led by declines in energy stocks while the mining sector was positive amid higher commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 13.68 points to 14938.65 in early trading Monday.
Sempra Energy said it will buy Oncor for $9.45 billion in cash after Energy Future Holdings Corp, which indirectly owns Oncor, abandoned a deal to sell the power transmission company to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
On the economic front, Canadian wholesale trade fell by 0.5 percent in June after eight consecutive monthly increases, largely pulled down by lower sales of food and motor vehicles, Statistics Canada said on Monday.
The decrease was greater than the 0.2 percent drop forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. Five of the seven subsectors posted declines.
In volume terms, sales edged down by 0.7 percent.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.067 cents to 79.54 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rose 3.02 points to 772.78.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative this morning, with energy retreating 0.64%, consumer staples off 0.25% and telecom issues slumping 0.21%.
On the upside, base metal stocks were ahead 1.67%, material stocks rose 0.72% and gold issues gained 0.60%.
Gold prices were up $7.70 to $1,292.20 U.S. an ounce.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were trading flat Monday morning, as investors were reluctant to jump into the markets as geopolitical tensions remained high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 7 points to 21,667. The S&P 500 was down half a point to 2,425 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up less than one point to 6,217.
Worries over North Korea resurfaced over the weekend after the authoritarian nation warned that its army could target the U.S. at anytime, and that Guam, Hawaii nor the mainland won't be able to "dodge the merciless strike."
In corporate news, Nike Inc. (NKE) fell 3% on a ratings downgrade. Jefferies cut its rating to hold from buy and reduced its price target to $60 from $75 as competition from Adidas AG (ADDYY) intensifies. Nike's growth and margins could be at risk moving ahead as elevated selling, general and administrative expenses occupy near-term funds and marketing campaigns become more important for Nike's ability to "defend its turf" from Adidas, Jefferies said.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was in the red at around 2.187 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was lower at 2.772 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Oil was at trading at $48.55 a barrel, down 13 cents, or around 0.27%.
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