The Toronto stock market closed little changed with financials providing lift a day before the start of a slew of quarterly earnings from the big banks.
The S&P TSX Composite Index slumped 3.44 points to end the day at 11,718.63
The TSX enjoyed limited lift from market heavyweight PotashCorp after the fertilizer giant’s board rejected a hostile $38.6-billion U.S. takeover bid from Australian miner BHP Billiton. Its shares were up $1.11 at $158.17.
Bank of Montreal gained 51 cents to $59.06 a day before delivering its latest earnings.
Among the most active stocks, electricity transmission systems company Brookfield Infrastructure Partners edged up 0.8%. The company said it would takeover Australia based Prime Infrastructure for $1.4 billion.
Excellon Resource was down 10%, after the company announced it was temporarily shutting down operations at its Platosa silver-lead-zinc mine in Mexico.
Shares of Coolbrands were up 21% a few days after the company agreed to buy hygiene products and services company Swisher International Inc.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.30 cents to 95.05 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were down on the day. Gold was off 1.1%, while industrials were down 1% and global base metals trailed Friday’s close by 0.8%.
The four gainers were led by telecoms, up 1.6%, utilities, ahead 1.1%, and real-estate, picking up 0.7%.
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 4.27 points to 1,475.35, while the Nasdaq Canada index removed 9.14 points to close at 579.13.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks ended a choppy day of trading lower Monday, as a dismal economic outlook overshadowed earlier optimism fueled by takeover talk.
The Dow Jones industrial average deducted 39.21 points to 10,174.41
The S&P 500 index surrendered 4.33 points to 1,067.36. The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index gave back 20.13 points to 2,159.63.
It's been a rocky ride for Wall Street over the past couple of weeks, as investors have shifted their focus between positive company news and gloomy economic readings.
Disappointing reports on jobs, manufacturing and economic activity battered confidence last week, dragging the Dow and S&P lower for the second straight week.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, is forecast to be revised down to an annual rate of 1.4%, a significant drop from its previous reading of 2.4%.
Last week, investors were hit with a slew of dismal indicators, including a report showing that weekly jobless claims surged to the highest level since November.
Hewlett-Packard put in a bid early Monday for data-storage company 3PAR, offering $1.6 billion U.S., a 33.3% premium on the offer proposed by rival Dell last week. Shares of 3PAR spiked 43%, while Dell's stock slipped 1% and shares of HP fell 2%.
The Gulf Coast Claims Facility, led by Kenneth Feinberg, will take over the BP oil spill claims process Monday. The claims will be paid using the $20-billion U.S. escrow account established by BP to compensate for damage. Shares of BP dipped less than 1%.
Treasury prices inched ahead, lowering yields for the benchmark 10-year note back to Friday’s 2.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil slid 87 cents to $72.95 U.S.
Gold prices surrendered a dollar to $1,226 U.S. an ounce.
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