The Toronto stock market fell back a bit Monday amid another round of nervousness about Europe’s debt crisis and lower prices for oil and metals.
The S&P/TSX Composite index moved down 13.86 points to end Monday at 12,076.03
The Canadian dollar nipped up 0.07 cents to 101.18 cents U.S.
The base metals sector was down as copper prices gave back last week’s three-cent gain, with the September contract in New York off five cents at $3.37 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources backed off 17 cents to $29.22 while First Quantum Minerals gave back 44 cents to $19.35.
Copper fell as hopes dimmed of further stimulus from Chinese policy-makers. A report over the weekend that property prices in July rose slightly discouraged investors who have been hoping for further big stimulus measures from the Chinese government.
China is the world’s biggest consumer of copper, viewed as an economic bellwether as it is used in so many industries.
Energy stocks also gave up ground as Suncor Energy fell 19 cents to $32.24.
Elsewhere in the sector, FMC Technologies Inc. announced plans to acquire Calgary-based oilfield services company Pure Energy Services Ltd. for $282 million. Pure’s stock gained 39.5% after the announcement, rising $3.10 to $10.95 — just short of FMC’s offer of $11 per share in cash.
Gold stocks also faded, though Iamgold Inc. gained 28 cents to $12.13.
Franco-Nevada Corp. has agreed to commit $1 billion toward the cost of a major copper mining project being led by Inmet Mining Corp. Inmet owns 80% of the Cobre Panama project and the remainder is owned by Korea Panama Mining Corp.
Franco Nevada was down 25 cents to $48.83 while Inmet declined 46 cents at $44.36.
In other corporate news, DHX Media Ltd. shares surged 26 cents, or 22.8%, to $1.40 as it said it is spending $111 million to acquire Cookie Jar Entertainment to create what it says will be Canada’s largest children’s entertainment company, with shows like Caillou and Inspector Gadget.
Shares in U.S. home improvement chain Lowe’s fell 5.24% to $26.41 as it said its fiscal second-quarter net income dropped 10% to $747 million U.S. or 64 cents a share. Lowe’s also lowered its fiscal 2012 earnings and revenue outlooks on Monday.
Lowe’s has said it would like to acquire Rona Inc., Canada’s largest home-improvement retail chain, but its $1.76-billion offer has been rejected by the company and also faces opposition from the province of Quebec. Rona shares dipped 33 cents to $13.47.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 4.08 points to 1,229.34. The Nasdaq Canada dipped 1.41 points to 349.72.
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly split at the close between gainers and losers. Consumer staples led the former camp, gaining 0.6%, followed closely by telecoms and utilities, ahead 0.5% each.
The seven laggards were pinned down mostly by information technology, off 1%, the metals and mining group, down 0.6%, and energy, sliding 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded down slightly Monday on yet another quiet trading day. Still, all three indexes remain near their highest levels in more than four years.
The Dow Jones industrial average tripped 3.56 points to conclude Monday at 13,271.60.
The S&P 500 index dropped 0.90 points to 1,417.26, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.38 points to close at 3,076.21.
Trading volume has been low over the past few days, with many investors on vacation and little news out of Europe.
With little economic news on the agenda this week, investors will keep an eye on the U.S. Federal Reserve. The central bank will release minutes from its July meeting on Tuesday.
While the Fed didn't announce any further stimulus measures at the meeting, investors will look for clues about whether quantitative easing could be coming when chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at a Jackson Hole, Wyo., symposium at the end of the month.
Investors will also look for news out of Europe, as Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras meets with top euro-zone officials throughout the week. Samaras is expected to push for a two-year extension of Greece's bailout program, which would give the government more time to implement difficult reforms.
Monday was also historic: Apple became the most valuable public company ever. Apple's market value -- the price of its stock multiplied by the number of outstanding shares -- hit $623 billion U.S. in intraday trading. That eclipsed the previous record of $618.9 billion U.S. set by Microsoft on Dec. 30, 1999, at the height of the dot-com bubble.
Apple shares hit a new record of $664.74 U.S. per share. The anticipated September launch of the new iPhone, coupled with rumours of a smaller iPad and a more feature-rich Apple TV have lifted the stock in recent weeks.
Lowe's second-quarter earnings missed expectations, falling 10% over the same period a year ago, the home improvement retailer reported Monday. Shares were down more than 6% on the news.
Aetna is buying Coventry Health Care for $5.7 billion U.S. in cash and stock. The deal would make Aetna one of the largest providers of government-financed health care. Shares of both companies moved up.
Best Buy announced that Hubert Joly, the CEO of restaurant chain Carlson would take over CEO duties. Shares fell nearly 7% as investors appear wary that this announcement makes the proposed buyout by the retailer's founder, Richard Schulze, less likely.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury crept up, pushing the yield down to 1.81% from Friday’s 1.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for September delivery fell 11 cents to $95.90 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery moved up $1.20 cents to $1,620.90 U.S. an ounce.
