Canada's main stock index settled into negative territory by the closing bell on Monday, as weakness in gold and consumer staples stocks overrode gains in the health-care field.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 61.05 points to end Monday at 15,607.88
The Canadian dollar gained 0.23 cents to 77.91 cents U.S.
Gold concerns finished the red, as Barrick Gold stepped back 37 cents, or 2.1%, to $17.30, while Goldcorp ditched 52 cents, or 2.9%, to $17.07.
The largest decliner was Detour Gold after brokerages cut their price targets on the stock. Detour swooned 78 cents, or 7.7%, to $9.27.
Consumer staples also suffered, as Metro Inc. fell back 52 cents, or 1.3%, to $40.89, while Loblaw Companies decreased 48 cents to $65.46.
Among materials, Agnico Eagle Mines declined $2.25, or 4%, to $54.17, Hudbay Minerals lost three cents to $8.96.
Health-care stocks were leaders among those into green, with Aurora Cannabis up 39 cents, or 5.1%, to $8.05, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals gained 22 cents, or nearly 1%, to $23.27.
One of the largest percentage gainers on the TSX was Prometic Life Scan, up two cents, or 2.6%, to 79 cents, after the company said its primary immunodeficiency treatment met the main goal in a late-stage study.
In the tech field, BlackBerry poked up a penny to $13.50, while Constellation Software picked up $5.94 to $925.00.
Elsewhere among techs, TMX Group Ltd, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange and smaller Canadian trading platforms, said in a statement on Saturday that the failure of data storage equipment caused the outage. Shares of TMX Group Ltd were down $1.71, or 2.2%, to $77.67.
Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited declined 0.8% after Toys "R" Us (Canada) Ltd on Friday received U.S. and Canadian court approval to sell itself to the company. Fairfax shares capitulated $8.91, or 1.2%, to $712.05.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said its Industrial Product Price Index increased 0.8% in March, mainly due to higher prices for energy and petroleum products and pulp and paper products.
The Raw Materials Price Index rose 2.1%, primarily due to higher prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 0.13 points to finish Monday at 783.63
All but three of 12 TSX subgroups were negative, with gold off 1.7%, while consumer staples each down 1.1%, while materials sank 0.9%.
The three gainers were health-care, up 2.9%, information technology, better by 1%, and energy, ahead 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Monday, giving up gains seen earlier in the session, as the telecommunications sector suffered a sharp pullback.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 148.04 points to 24,163.15. Boeing contributed the most to declines, while McDonald's and Apple had the greatest positive impact.
The S&P 500 slid 21.86 points to 2,648.05, with telecom falling 2.7% to all 11 sectors lower. The decline followed news Sunday that T-
Mobile agreed to buy Sprint for $26.5 billion. Some analysts are skeptical the deal will get federal approval, and shares of both companies fell sharply on Monday.
The NASDAQ retreated 53.53 points to 7,066.27, weighed by a decline in shares of Microsoft. The stock fell 2.4%.
Monday also marked the last trading day of April, which was the first positive month in three for the major indexes. The Dow and S&P 500 both rose nearly 0.3 percent in April, while the Nasdaq closed marginally higher.
Logistics company Prologis is acquiring DCT Industrial Trust for $8.4 billion in an all-stock deal. DCT Industrial's shares popped more than 11.5%. Marriott Vacations, the hotel chain's timeshare business, is also buying rival ILG for $4.7 billion.
T-Mobile also said Sunday it agreed to buy Sprint for $26.5 billion. Meanwhile, shares of Andeavor jumped 16.7% after Marathon Petroleum agreed to acquire it for $23 billion.
In earnings, Dow component McDonald's rose 5.8% after reporting better-than-expected earnings and revenue. Botox-maker Allergan also posted a better-than-expected profit for the previous quarter.
Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported through Monday morning, 79.3% have reported stronger-than-forecast earnings, according to FactSet.
More than 100 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report earnings this week, including Apple and Mondelez International.
In economic news, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index posted last month its biggest year-over-year gain since February 2017. The so-called core PCE — which strips out food and energy — jumped 1.9% through March. The core PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation.
Elsewhere, pending home sales barely rose as buyers struggled to afford what little supply is available.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose slightly, reducing yields to 2.95% from Friday’s 2.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 29 cents a barrel to $68.39 U.S.
Gold prices lurched lower seven dollars to $1,316.40 U.S. an ounce.
Dow Slumps on Day, Ekes Out Gain for April
