Stocks in Toronto inched lower Monday morning led by weakness in enegy stocks as oil prices gave back some gains while tech stocks moved higher.
The TSX Composite index shed 2.81 points to trade at 20255.14.
Investors are looking ahead to the Canadian central bank’s policy meeting on Wednesday, when it is expected to ease its asset purchases again by C$1 billion to C$2 billion per week.
Brent crude for September shed 86 cents, or 1.1%, to $74.69 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for August was trading at $73.71 a barrel, down 85 cents, or 1.1%.
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.29 cents to 80.03 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.91 points to 939.38.
Five of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground during the morning session, with techs higher by 0.80%, while telecom edged 0.33% higher and utilities rose 0.12%.
On the downside -- energy issues shed 1.53%, material stocks dipped 0.36% and gold issues gave back 0.31%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were higher Monday morning as Wall Street prepared for what is expected to be a busy earnings season, particularly for big U.S. banks as investors look for signs of an improving economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44 points, or 0.13%, to 34,914, the S&P 500 gained 0.03% and the Nasdaq rose 0.06% and set an all-time intraday high.
Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. fell around 11% Monday, a day after founder Richard Branson and five crewmates successfully flew suborbital space on the company’s VSS Unity rocket-powered spaceplane.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury slipped early Monday to 1.334%.
August gold Monday traded $9.90, or 0.6%, lower at $1,800.70 an ounce.
