Toronto stocks slipped below the unchanged line on Monday, even as a strong GDP report has outweighed worries over Dubai.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the day 17.21 points lower, at 11,498.06
The market received a boost as Statistics Canada reported real gross domestic product increased 0.1% in the third quarter. Real GDP was up 0.4% in September.
Financials were up ahead of earnings reports from several big banks. Bank of Montreal rallied 1.9% to $53.93 and Royal Bank gained 0.2% to $56.81.
National Bank, TD Bank, CIBC and Royal Bank are expected to report quarterly earnings results later in the week.
Research in Motion slipped 0.8% to $60.97 after the stock's target price was lowered to $73 from $85 by Broadpoint.AmTech. The rating was left at "sell".
EnCana Corp. slid 0.2% to $56.57 after the company said it has completed its transaction to split into two companies: Cenovus Energy and EnCana Corp.
Thomson Reuters turned higher 0.8% to $33.40 after the company announced that it has acquired the business of ASSET4 AG, a Swiss-based company. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Com Dev International plunged 8.6% to $3.29 after the company said its fourth-quarter revenues are projected to range between $56 million and $58 million. The company anticipates net loss to be less than $1 million for the quarter.
Canadian National Railway Company lost 0.6% to $55.30 after the company's locomotive engineers went on strike over the weekend after talks broke off on Friday. CNR rejected a binding wage arbitration offer yesterday, according to reports.
IGM Financial dropped 1.6% to $40.68 after the company announced that it has agreed to issue six million Non-Cumulative First Preferred Shares, Series B on a bought deal basis, for gross proceeds of $150 million.
The Canadian dollar chugged ahead 0.51 cents to 94.72 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The 14 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between winners and losers. Utilities gained the most, at 0.7%, followed by financials, up 0.5%, and consumer staples, ahead 0.3%.
The seven laggards were weighed by information technology, off 0.9%, health-care and industrials, sliding 0.7% each.
The TSX Venture Exchange finished ahead 9.46 points to 1,415.06, while the Nasdaq Canada edged downward 0.34 points to 646.91.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks gained modestly Monday afternoon as the weak dollar, a ho-hum start to the holiday shopping period and continued questions about Dubai's debt problems kept Wall Street under pressure.
The Dow Jones Industrials picked up 34.92 points on the day to 10,344.84. The S&P 500 index regained 4.14 points to 1,095.63, while the Nasdaq recovered 6.16 points to 2,144.60.
Monday marked the first full trading session in six days, with all financial markets closed for Thanksgiving and stocks only trading in a half-session Friday.
Stocks tumbled in Friday's shortened session on the problems in Dubai. The major indexes were also vulnerable to a selloff after touching 13-month highs in the previous session.
That vulnerability stuck around on Monday.
The United Arab Emirates said Sunday that it will provide emergency support for banks in Dubai, cooling some worries that a debt default in the city-state could challenge the global economic recovery.
Stocks around the globe slumped last week after the Dubai government asked to defer payments on $60 billion U.S. in debt owed by Dubai World and Nakheel. Dubai World is the city-state's main investment arm and Nakheel is its real estate arm.
Dubai's construction boom has helped turn the Emirate into a world financial center and tourist hot spot. But Dubai has suffered from the same sort of real estate collapse that battered the U.S. economy, with values plummeting even as pricey projects continue to get underway.
Dubai stocks plummeted Monday, the first trading day in the region after a four-day religious holiday.
On the economic front, the Chicago PMI, a regional read on manufacturing, rose to 56.1 in November from 54.2 in October. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought the index would fall to 53.3. Any reading over 50 indicates expansion.
In a report issued Sunday, the National Retail Federation said the average shopper spent $343.31 U.S. over the holiday weekend, down from $372.57 U.S. last year. Overall sales rose to $41.2 billion U.S. from $41 billion U.S., with the number of shoppers climbing to 195 million from 172 million over the four-day span.
Treasury prices gained ground, lowering the yields on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.19% from Friday’s 3.20%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil gained $1.23 to $77.19 U.S.
Gold prices added another $8 to $1,183 U.S.
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