Canada's main stock index opened only slightly higher on Monday on fears of an escalating trade war between the United States and China.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index took on 26.66 points to open a new week at 16,314.42
The Canadian dollar surrendered 0.47 to 75.83 cents U.S.
Baytex Energy said it would buy rival Raging River Exploration for about $2.8 billion to expand in the oil-rich Duvernay field in Alberta.
Baytex shares faded 55 cents, or 10.8%, to $4.55.
Australia's South32 Ltd has bid $1.3 billion to take full control of Arizona Mining, offering a hefty premium for the Toronto-listed firm which is developing zinc, lead, manganese and silver assets.
Moreover, National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Arizona to $6.20 from $6.00. Arizona shares gained $2.00, or 48.4%, to $6.13
CIBC raised the price target on Canada Goose Holdings to $92.00 from $48.00. Canada Goose shares rocketed $7.42, or 9.5%, to $85.43.
South Korea has suspended the sale of wheat and flour from Canada after the latter announced last week the discovery in mid-2017 of an unapproved genetically modified trait in Alberta.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.16 points to 753.24
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour of trade, with health-care sagging 1.4%, information technology down 0.3%, and telecoms off 0.2%.
The four gainers were led by energy, soaring 1.4%, materials, nudging up 0.1%, and financials, eking ahead 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks opened lower on Monday amid lingering trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the two largest economies in the world.
The Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 213.89 points to begin Monday at 24,876.59, with Intel as the worst-performing stock in the index.
The Dow was also on track to extend its losing streak to five days.
The S&P 500 lost 14.73 points to 2,764.93, with health-care and tech lagging.
The NASDAQ retreated 30.62 points to 7,715.76
In corporate news, shares of Disney fell more than 1.5% after being downgraded by Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser. In a note, Wieser said its battle for key Twenty-First Century Fox assets has placed the company in an unwinnable situation.
Shares of Boeing dropped 0.9%, and Caterpillar fell 1.5%. The two companies are seen as bellwethers for global trade concerns given their large amounts of overseas business.
On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would inflict tariffs that would impact up to $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. According to Washington, the action comes "in light of China's theft of intellectual property and technology and its other unfair trade practices."
Consequently, the move triggered China to retaliate, with Beijing announcing its own selection of duties on U.S. goods. The Chinese State Council's commission on tariffs and customs stated that a 25% tariff would occur in early July on $34 billion of U.S. products.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 2.91% from Friday’s 2.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded four cents to $65.02 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices picked up $4.40 at $1,282.90 U.S. an ounce.
