The Toronto stock market was little changed Monday after Spain admitted it needed help in recapitalizing its debt-laden banks and secured a bailout for the sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index approached noon Monday ET off 18.36 points to 11,482.27
The Canadian dollar slid 0.59 of a cent to 97.22 cents U.S.
Among energy plays, Suncor Energy gave back 28 cents to $28.75.
The base metals sector also declined as July copper was up five cents to $3.34 U.S. a pound. Ivanhoe Mines moved down 36 cents to $10.36.
The industrials sector was positive, as Canadian National Railways rose 66 cents to $84.32.
The financials sector also lifted the TSX with Scotiabank up 25 cents to $52.10.
Gold declined as Barrick Gold Corp. faded 44 cents to $39.69.
In corporate news, convenience store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard has issued another warning to shareholders of Statoil Fuel & Retail who may be waiting for a higher offer.
The Montreal-area company that owns Mac’s and Couche-Tard convenience stores and Circle K gas bars says it won’t pay more for the Scandinavian company. Couche-Tard’s offer values Statoil Fuel at about $2.7 billion. Its shares edged six cents lower to $41.63.
Kinross Gold Corp. was unchanged at $8.51 after it said production has resumed at its Tasiast mine in Mauritania following a labour dispute that was resolved Saturday. The Toronto-based company has said the work stoppage was illegal. It provided no details of how the dispute was resolved in Monday’s announcement.
NovaGold Resources Inc. said Monday it has signed a deal to sell its Rock Creek property in Nome, Alaska to Bering Straits Native Corp. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available. NovaGold shares were unchanged at $6.13.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 8.01 points to 1,284.92. The Nasdaq Canada index erased 5.95 points to 367.98
Of the 14 Toronto subgroups, 10 were negative by midday. Health-care issues were down 1.3%, gold slid 1%, and global base metals eased 0.9%.
The four gainers were led by telecoms, up 0.6%, while industrials and consumer staples inched up 0.3% each.
ON WALLSTREET
Following a higher open, U.S. stocks dipped into the red Monday as early enthusiasm over a $125-billion U.S. bailout for Spanish banks fizzled.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 33.15 points by noon on Monday to 12,521.05
The S&P 500 was 2.73 points lower to 1,322.93. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index sifted off 9.01 points to 2,849.41
Shares of technology bellwether Apple rose as investors geared up for the company's annual developers conference.
Battered shares of Facebook, which started to recoup recent losses with a 3% gain in trading Friday, continued to gain ground Monday.
JPMorgan Chase shares were slightly lower. The bank's CEO, Jamie Dimon, will appear in front of the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday to answer questions about the company's $2-billion U.S. loss.
Over the weekend, Spain asked for €100 billion ($125 billion U.S.) from the other members of the euro-zone for help to recapitalize its banking system, and the group signaled it is willing to respond favorably to the request.
While investors consider "the rescue of Spain as a rescue for the financial markets," they are still facing many unanswered questions, according to a number of experts.
Spanish bond yields began to creep from around 6% toward 6.5%.
Also over the weekend, China reported record exports, at $181.1 billion U.S, and imports, at $162.4 billion U.S., which gave it a bigger-than-expected trade surplus and helped to ease concern about a so-called hard landing caused by a rapid slowdown in its economy.
A separate report showed inflation in China slowed in May, which kept the door open for more stimuli from the government there to deal with any possible slowdown.
Last week, China's central bank announced a surprise interest rate cut, which briefly lifted stocks.
No major U.S. economic readings are due Monday, though reports will come later in the week on retail sales and inflation.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained a bit, lowering yields to 1.61% from Friday’s 1.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil shed 63 cents to $83.47 U.S.
Gold futures for June delivery lost $1.70 to $1,589.70 U.S. an ounce.
