Canada's main stock index fell at the open on Monday, struggling to hold on to its seven-month highs, as financial and tech shares declined.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index sank 40.75 points to open Monday at 16,355.40
The Canadian dollar regained 0.11 cents at 74.94 cents U.S.
CIBC raised the price target on Corus Entertainment to $9.00 from $8.00. Corus gained 22 cents a share, or 3.2%, to $7.05.
CIBC raised the price target on George Weston to $113.00 from $109.00. Weston shares picked up $1.71, or 1.8%, to $99.66.
National Bank of Canada raised the rating on MEG Energy to outperform from sector perform. MEG shares advanced 23 cents, or 4.2%, to $5.73.
On the economic beat, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that the trend in housing starts was 202,279 units in March, compared to 202,039 units in February.
Statistics Canada revealed that Canadian municipalities issued $7.8 billion worth of building permits in February, down 5.7% from the previous month. The decline was largely due to lower construction intentions for multi-family dwellings.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 1.62 points to 631.43
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups flattened out, with information technology backpedaling 1.1%, while industrials hesitated 0.8%, and health-care faded 0.6%.
The three gainers were energy, sprinting 1.4%, gold, brightening 0.7%, and materials, obtaining 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Monday, pressured by declines in Boeing and General Electric, as Wall Street digested strong gains from the previous week and looked ahead to the start of the corporate earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average swooned 151.87 points to start the week at 26,273.12.
The S&P 500 lost 8.92 points at 2,883.82, as the industrial sector dipped 0.8%.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 31.62 points to 7,907.07
Boeing dropped more than 3.5% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut its rating on the aerospace giant to neutral from buy. The bank said it expects production of the 737 Max jet to be delayed by six to nine months.
GE, meanwhile, fell more than 7% after J.P. Morgan cut its price target on the stock to $5 from $6 a share, noting: "We believe many investors are underestimating the severity of the challenges and underlying risks at GE, while overestimating the value of small positives."
Snap shares rose more than 4% after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the social media company to outperform from sector perform, noting the "potential for a positive inflection point catalyzing" the stock.
On the data front, factory orders for February are scheduled for release.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell a bit, raising yields to 2.51% from Friday’s 2.5%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 80 cents to $63.88 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $9.60 to $1,305.20 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
