The Toronto stock market shifted lower Monday as key commodities made little headway and investors remained skeptical that Europe’s approval of a $90-billion U.S. Irish bailout package would be enough to stop the spread of debt across the continent.
The S&P TSX Composite Index found a way into the green by 2.94 points to end Monday’s trading at 12,895.65
The loonie regained 1.87 cents worth of strength to 98.22 cents U.S.
In corporate developments, Husky Energy Inc. says it will pay $860 million to acquire oil and natural gas properties in Western Canada from ExxonMobil Canada Ltd. The properties will add the equivalent of about 33,000 barrels of oil per day to Husky’s production. Its shares were down 95 cents to $24.57.
Elsewhere in the oil patch, shares of Suncor Energy Inc. gained 57 cents to $34.73.
On the TSX, investors retreated to defensive sectors, with the vast majority of its main indexes in the red.
Mining stocks such as diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd. were up six cents to $49.30.
However, shares of Rubicon Minerals Corp. soared to a multi-year high, increasing 33.3%, after the company reported that its Phoenix gold project could contain up to four million ounces of gold. Its stock was up $1.53 to $6.13
The financial sector also lost some ground a day before National Bank of Canada kicks off fourth-quarter earnings season for the big six Canadian banks.
Shares in National Bank recovered 15 cents to $68.73 after being bolstered last week by expectations it may be the first big bank to raise its dividend since the recession.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that its Industrial Product Price Index improved 0.5% in October, its Raw Materials Price Index up 1.7%, mainly because of boosts in petroleum and metal products, in both cases.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX/Venture Exchange stumbled 6.20 points to 2,050.80, while the Nasdaq Canada index was 0.63 points to 728.82.
In Toronto, all but four of the 14 subgroups were negative to end the day. Consumer staples were down 0.7%, health-care off 0.6% and gold down 0.5%.
The four gainers were headed by energy, up 0.7%, while utilities and financials inched ahead 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks bounced back to end the session still down, but much closer to breakeven.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered from its lows to end the day behind 39.51 points to 11,052.50
The S&P 500 was down 1.64 points to 1,187.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index backtracked 9.34 points to 2,525.22.
Stocks had fallen nearly 1.5% earlier in the session, sending the Dow temporarily below 11,000, but they bounced back from those lows late in the afternoon.
A wave of downbeat news gave investors little to be thankful coming back from the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as renewed fears about Europe's debt crisis, feuding South and North Korea, and a WikiLeaks release of controversial diplomatic files all weighed on markets.
European officials on Sunday announced an 85-billion-euro bailout for Ireland and its banks. They also detailed a new protocol for similar rescues of European nations in the future.
Meanwhile, Ireland's government is carrying out severe budget cuts in an effort to curb its debt. Ireland's deficit already accounts for about 12% of its entire gross domestic product, but will nearly triple to 32% of its GDP with the bailout -- a cause for concern, some economists say.
The bailout also raised worries about the stability of the European Union if other member nations require emergency financial aid. Portugal has emerged as the next likely candidate for a bailout, while investors are particularly worried about the outlook for Spain -- one of the EU's largest economies.
President Obama on Monday proposed a two-year freeze of federal workers' wages. The freeze is a way to save $2 billion U.S. for the remainder of the fiscal year 2011, and $28 billion U.S. over the next five years.
While no major economic reports are on tap for Monday, investors will take in data on housing, manufacturing and consumer confidence on Tuesday. On Friday, the government will issue its monthly jobs report.
FedEx bucked the S&P 500's downward trend, rising 4.7%, after analysts from Credit Suisse raised their rating and price target for the company.
Amazon stock rose to an all-time high, boosted by indications of solid Cyber Monday sales. Its shares rose 1.3% in afternoon trading, after trading up more than 2% to $181.84 U.S. earlier in the session.
Meanwhile, 18 of the 30 Dow components posted losses Monday.
Investors were looking at the sales results from the first days of the holiday shopping season, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Early reports already show shoppers spent more on Friday, although sales may have been stronger online.
According to the National Retail Federation, 212 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 195 million last year. Spending rose 6.4% over last year, to an average of $365.34 U.S. per shopper.
Kraft Foods said Monday it is seeking arbitration in its battle with Starbucks, as the coffee chain tries to end a deal under which Kraft distributes packaged Starbucks coffee to grocery stores. Kraft shares fell 0.4% and Starbucks lost 0.9%.
BP announced Sunday it would sell its interests in Pan American Energy to Bridas Corporation for $7.06 billion U.S. in cash. The move is part of BP's plan to sell $30 billion U.S. in assets by the end of 2011, in order to raise funds in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. BP shares fell 0.8%.
A Dutch court ordered U.S.-based Johnson & Johnson to pay a $130-million U.S. fine to pharmaceutical maker Basilea for a licensing agreement breach, Basilea said in a release.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration posted a report on its website that cites a variety of problems with a McNeil manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico. McNeil is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and was the source of this year's Tylenol recalls. Shares of Johnson & Johnson fell 0.6%.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury inched up, lowering the yield to 2.82% from 2.86% late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil picked up $1.94 a barrel to $85.75 U.S. Gold futures for December delivery rose $3.60 to settle at $1,366 U.S. an ounce.
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