The Toronto stock market was little changed Monday morning as traders look ahead to a U.S. election Tuesday that is deemed too close to call.
The S&P/TSX composite fell 27.63 points to end Monday at 12,366.81
The Canadian dollar shed 0.07 cents to 100.34 cents U.S.
Among gold issues, Barrick Gold Corp. diminished 23 cents to $35.00 while Goldcorp Inc. climbed 35 cents to $43.26.
The base metals segment gained while December copper fell two cents to $3.46 U.S. a pound.
Taseko Mines gained one cent to $3.06 while Turquoise Hill Resources gained 88 cents or 9% to $8.95 following a power supply deal for its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia.
In the energy field, Canadian Natural Resources gained three cents to $29.87
The financials group was down with Scotiabank down 22 cents to $54.44.
In corporate news, Silver Wheaton Corp. said its net income fell by 11% to $119.7-million U.S. or 34 cents per share. The company’s revenue was down 13% year over year to $161.3 million U.S., mostly as a result of lower prices for silver. The company declared a dividend of seven cents per share, about 20% of the cash generated by operations in the quarter. Its shares dipped 57 cents to $38.88.
Mexican authorities have awarded TransCanada Corp. another natural gas pipeline contract. The company says it will invest about $400 million U.S. in a 413-kilometre pipeline between El Oro and Mazatlan, which will connect with the $1-billion U.S. Topolobampo pipeline contract that TransCanada was awarded last week. TransCanada shares gained seven cents to $45.27.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the value of building permits fell 13.2% to $6.5 billion in September, following a 9.5% advance in August.
The nation’s number crunchers said the decline was mainly the result of the non-residential sector, where the value of permits in all three components fell.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 8.10 points to 1,301.93.
Of the 14 Toronto subgroups, nine were lower. Health-care stocks fell 0.7%, while real-estate tumbled 0.6% and consumer staples were 0.4% to the bad.
The five gainers were led by metals and mining, who, with information technology, each gained 0.6%, while global base metals inched up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher Monday, as investors await the outcome of an uncertain U.S. presidential election.
The Dow Jones Industrials carved out a gain of 19.28 points to close at 13,112.40, while the S&P 500 moved higher by 3.06 to 1,417.26, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 17.53 points at 2,987.56
The latest surveys indicate a dead heat in the race for the White House, with 49% of likely voters questioned in support of President Obama and an equal amount saying they back former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
In corporate news, Time Warner Cable earnings missed expectations, as the company lost 140,000 cable TV subscribers during the third quarter. Shares fell 6%.
Transocean shares edged higher after the world's largest offshore drilling rig contractor reported a better-than-expected profit for the third quarter.
Electric car maker Tesla reported mixed results. The company's quarterly loss widened from a year ago, and was bigger than analysts were expecting. Tesla's revenue declined from a year earlier, but topped forecasts. Shares gained 9%.
Shares of Apple edged higher after the company said it sold three million iPads in the three days since it launched the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad. Separately, Apple is considering the use of non-Intel chips for Mac computers, according to a Bloomberg report.
Economically speaking, the U.S. Institute for Supply Management said its services index for October came in at 54.2, a little below the 54.5 forecast.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury edged higher, pushing the yield down to 1.68% from 1.73% late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were up 97 cents at $85.83 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged nine dollars per ounce to $1,684.20 U.S.
