Canada's main stock index fell on Monday, erasing initial gains at the open, as weakness in technology stocks offset gains in commodity-related shares.
The TSX Composite index had faded 10.37 points by noon hour Monday to 20,178.06.
The Canadian dollar squirted ahead 0.18 cents to 79.74 cents U.S.
Trillium Therapeutics fell 44 cents, or 4.9%, the most on the TSX, to $8.59, and the second biggest decliner was marine port service provider Westshore Terminals Investment, down 30 cents, or 1.4%, to $21.63.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was lithium miner Lithium Americas which jumped $1.18, or 7.8%, to $17.64, on positive ruling on Nevada mine site.
Its gains were followed by Teck Resources, which rose $1.14, or 4.3%, to $27.54.
Unifor said on Sunday about 900 workers had started strike action at global miner Rio Tinto's operations in British Columbia.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.48 points to 905.04.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and lowers, materials leading the former group, up 1.6%, while energy advanced 1.4%, and gold shone brighter 1.3%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by information technology, down 1.3%, industrials, off 0.8%, and utilities, dipping 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 hovered around its record on Monday ahead of a busy week of earnings reports from technology’s heaviest hitters.
The Dow Jones Industrials recouped 14.35 points to 35,075, hoping to build on four straight days of gains
The S&P 500 recovered 6.53 points to 4,418.10.
The NASDAQ gained 8.92 points to 14,845.91.
One of the busiest weeks of earnings reports is on deck, with Tesla kicking it off after the closing bell. Last week, CEO Elon Musk said the automaker would likely start accepting bitcoin for vehicle purchases again. Shares of the electric vehicle maker rose 2.4%.
Tech giants Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft are all set to report on Tuesday, and Google, Facebook, and Amazon will also report later in the week.
The second-quarter reporting season has been stronger than expected, providing a support for equities as they climb back into record-high territory. So far, 88% of S&P 500 companies have reported a positive EPS surprise, according to FactSet. If 88% is the final percentage, it will mark the highest percentage since FactSet began tracking this metric in 2008.
Meanwhile, on the data front, sales of new U.S. single-family homes dropped unexpectedly in June, falling 6.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676,000 units, the Commerce Department said on Monday. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected new home sales to increase to 795,000 units in June.
Investors will be watching the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, beginning Tuesday. The Federal Open Market Committee and the Board of Governors are expected to issue a statement on the stance of monetary policy Wednesday. On Thursday, the Commerce Department will report second-quarter Gross Domestic Product data.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were unchanged, keeping yields at Friday’s 1.28%.
Oil prices docked 38 cents to $71.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hesitated $3.30 to $1,798.50 U.S. an ounce.
