Canada's main stock index fell at open on Monday, pressured by declines in energy stocks following lower crude oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 87.25 points to begin an abbreviated session at 13,848.19
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 73.54 U.S.
Markets in Canada are to close down 1 p.m. ET, and will remain shuttered Christmas Day and Boxing Day, to resume trading on Thursday.
H.C. Wainwright cut the target price on Gogold Resources to $0.90 from $1.20. Gogold shares began the day off two cents, or 9.1%, to 20 cents. Barrick Gold gained 44 cents, or 2.5%, to $18.29.
Health-care stocks again got hammered, with Canopy Growth falling $1.57, or 4.4%, to $34.43, though Aphria rallied 20 cents, or 3.1%, to $6.72.
Raymond James cut the target price on Nexgen Energy to $5.25 from $5.50. Nexgen shares deducted seven cents, or 3.1%, to $2.16. Elsewhere in the oil patch, Imperial Oil lost 50 cents, or 1.4%, to $34.16.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange removed 1.23 points to 528.37
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups fell in the first hour of a short day, with health-care surrendering 2.9%, energy down 1.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks off 1.3%.
The two stalwarts were gold, up 2.9%, and materials, picking up 1.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks dropped in trading Monday, after a brutal week pushed the S&P 500 to the brink of a bear market.
The Dow Jones Industrials thundered lower 352.04 points, or 1.6%, to 22,093.33
The S&P 500 lost 32.33 points, or 1.3%, to 2,384.29
The NASDAQ moved lower 67.03 points, or 1.1%, to 6,265.97
Last week the Dow lost 1,655 points, or 6.8%. That was the Dow’s worst week of trading since October 2008 during the financial crisis. The S&P 500 also lost 7% for the week and is now down 17.8% from its record reached earlier in the year.
Wall Street traditionally considers a drop of 20% or more from recent highs to be a bear market. The NASDAQ is now 22% below its record reached in August and is in a bear market.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held calls on Sunday with the heads of the six largest U.S. banks in order to reassure nervous investors that the financial markets and economy were functioning properly.
December is typically a buoyant month for stocks. Yet both the Dow and S&P 500 are down more than 12% this month -- on track for their worst December performances since the Great Depression in 1931.
Both the Dow and the S&P 500 are now in the red for 2018 by at least 9%. Some traders have suggested that the market has gotten to the point where a short-term bounce could occur, if only for technical reasons. Seasonally, this is usually a positive, or at least benign, time for the markets.
The NYSE closes early on Monday at 1 p.m. ET. The exchange is closed on Tuesday for Christmas day. Wednesday through Friday are normal trading days.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury moved higher, lowering yields to 2.77% from Friday’s 2.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.06 to $44.53 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $11.70 to $1,269.80 U.S. an ounce.
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