Bay Street stocks remained moderately lower Tuesday as a drop in gold prices led the related sectors into the red.
The S&P/TSX Composite index closed the day down 52.80 points to 11,701.81. Traders were catching up after a four-day holiday weekend.
Gold and materials stocks have declined as the precious metal dropped on the Comex.
Goldcorp lost 3.5% to $41.22 after the company matched Minera Penmont's sweetened offer to acquire Canplats Resources of $4.80 per share in a deal worth about $277 million, topping an offer from Goldcorp.
Iamgold Corp. was down 1.7% to $16.39 after the company announced that it has completed the acquisition of an additional 3% share in Societe d'Exploitation des Mines d'Or de Sadiola from the International Finance Corp.
International Royalty Corp. was basically flat at $7.63 after its board unanimously recommended shareholders reject a hostile $640-million bid from Franco-Nevada Corp. The company said it believed the $749-million offer by Royal Gold to be superior. Franco-Nevada was down 1.3% to $27.68, while Royal Gold declined 3.1% to $49.51.
Corriente Resources soared 13.1% to $8.54 after the company agreed to a $679-million takeover by CRCC-Tongguan Investment Co.
Wesdome Gold Mines shed 3.5% to $2.22 after the company announced the resignation of Rowland Uloth as President and Chief Executive Officer.
Gryphon Gold rallied 8.3% to 19.5 cents after the company said will explore matters relating to potential business combination, strategic financing and other opportunities.
Boralex was up 3% to $9.40 after the company and its new European partner Cube Infrastructure Fund announced the acquisition of three wind farms in France. The total investment for the transaction amounted to approximately $115 million.
TSO3 rose 3.1% to $1.99 after the company said it has filed supporting technical documentation to the U.S. Regulatory Agency and to the European Notified Body, in order to obtain clearance to export the STERIZONE 125L+ Sterilizer to these markets.
WestJet lost two cents to $12.44 after a failed terrorist attack on a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day raised safety worries.
The Canadian dollar was flat at 95.82 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower, gold tailing off 2%, followed by materials, down 1.8% and global base metals slid 0.9%.
The three gainers were led by consumer staples, up 0.4%, utilities, ahead 0.2% and financials, gaining 0.1%.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 13.45 points to 1,483.31, while the Nasdaq Canada index slid 3.59 points to 733.18.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks churned Tuesday, ending a choppy session with modest losses as the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq broke six-session winning streaks.
The Dow Jones Industrials was down 1.67 points to 10,545.41, while the broader S&P 500 was off 1.58 points to 1,126.20, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq backpedaled 2.68 points to 2,288.40.
Stocks managed slim gains Monday, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending at the highest levels since Oct. 1, 2008 and the Nasdaq ending at the highest point since Sept. 3, 2008.
Trading volume is expected to be light this week, with many market pros taking some or all of the holiday-shortened trading week off. All financial markets are closed Friday for New Year's Day and many participants will cut out early Thursday ahead of New Year's Eve.
Most market pros closed the books earlier this month, with investors looking to end a jarring year on a high note.
Year-to-date, the Dow has risen 20%, the S&P 500 has climbed 25% and the Nasdaq has gained 45%. All three indexes are up more substantially since falling to multi-year lows on March 9 amid the height of the financial crisis.
Next year is not expected to be as robust, most analysts say, as investors look for evidence that economic growth can continue without the copious amount of government assistance that provided a buffer and eventual springboard in 2009.
In particular, investors will be looking for signs that housing is still improving, that consumers are spending again, and that the labor market is healing and enough jobs are being added to drive down the unemployment rate.
Economically, consumer confidence rose in November, the Conference Board reported Tuesday, although the rise was shy of expectations. Confidence rose to 52.9 from 50.6 previously.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would rise to 53.
Separately, a report showed home prices flattened out in October after rising for fourth months in a row. The S&P/Case Shiller index of prices in 20 of the largest metropolitan areas was unchanged in October from the previous month. Prices were down 7.3% from a year ago, versus analysts' forecasts for a drop of 7.1%.
Treasury prices gained ground, lowering yields on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.80% from Monday’s 3.84%.
The price of a barrel of oil lost a nickel to $78.72 U.S.
Gold prices slipped $10 to $1,098 an ounce U.S.
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