The Toronto stock market was lower Monday afternoon as traders focused on the potential consequences of failing to avoid a looming U.S. fiscal crisis at the end of the year.
Investors also looked to European Union negotiations surrounding the next instalment of badly needed bailout money for Greece.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slid 45.08 points to end the day at 12,168.16
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.10 cents to 100.63 cents U.S., amid a surprise announcement that Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney is leaving that job June 1, 2013, to take the reins at the Bank of England. However, the currency had traded lower all morning as traders focused on fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington and Greek bailout talks in Brussels.
On the corporate front, Research in Motion Ltd. stock failed to catch a lift after CIBC World Markets upgraded RIM to sector outperform from sector perform with a $17 U.S. share target. Its shares were ahead 29 cents, or 2.5%, at $11.90.
But the Blackberry maker's shares surged 25% last week in the wake of other analyst upgrades and optimism about the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 operating system, which will be unveiled at a Jan. 30 event along with its new line of smartphones. It's viewed as a make or break product launch for Research In Motion.
Hudson’s Bay Co. shares were up four cents to $16.89 as Canada's oldest company officially returned to the Toronto Stock Exchange. An IPO by Canada’s oldest company valued the retailer at $17 a share, or about $2 billion in total. HBC plans to sell a total of 21 million shares — about one-fifth of the company’s stock — raising about $365 million through an initial public offering.
And Canadian conglomerate Onex Corp. is buying U.S. insurance company USI from a Goldman Sachs private equity fund in a $2.3-billion U.S. deal.
The GS Capital Partners fund took the insurance broker private in 2007 for $1.4 billion, including debt. USI employees invested in the 2007 deal, and will now own the business with Onex, the companies said Monday. Onex shares declined 30 cents to $40.25
The December copper contract on the Nymex was ahead one cent at $3.54 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector was off. Teck Resources gave back 27 cents to $32.37 while Turquoise Hill Resources slipped four cents to $7.30.
The gold sector was down as Barrick Gold Corp. was 22 cents lower to $34.97 and Goldcorp Inc. were unchanged at $40.78.
The energy sector was down as Cenovus Energy lost 61 cents to $32.81.
Africa Oil Corp. shares were down $2.12, or about 20%, to $8.50, their lowest level in nearly three months on Monday following a drilling report from a 50-50 partnership in Kenya that disappointed some analysts. The junior exploration company announced early Monday that it had received drilling results from the Twiga South-1 exploratory well operated by its partner, Tullow Oil PLC.
The industrials were down with shares in SNC-Lavalin down 91 cents to $40.63 after Swiss public broadcaster RTS said the former head of construction of the Canadian engineering firm has been formally charged by Swiss officials on allegations of money laundering.
No economic data was released today.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped 34.97 points to 1,224.
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower on the session. Metals and mining stocks were the worst off, shedding 1.4%, while health-care issues fell 0.8% and energy stocks were 0.6% lower.
The three gainers were information technology, up 0.3%, while utilities inched ahead 0.2% and financials were 0.01% better.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks ended mixed Monday as investors kept one eye on the results of the start of the holiday shopping season, and the other on upcoming economic negotiations in Washington and Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrials were off their lows for the day, but still negative by 42.31 points to 12,967.40
The S&P 500 moved 2.86 points lower to 1,406.29, and the Nasdaq Composite Index recovered 9.93 points to 2,976.78.
eBay shares rallied almost 5%, making it one of the best performers in the tech-heavy Nasdaq. The company said its PayPal unit enjoyed a 193% increase in mobile payment volume on Black Friday from a year earlier.
Apple shares rose more than 3%. Facebook shares spiked after analysts upgraded the stock, and Yahoo shares also rose after an upgrade from Goldman Sachs.
Shares of Knight Capital jumped on reports that the broker is weighing a sale. An August trading glitch at Knight cost the company more than $400 million U.S.
Research in Motion shares gained ground, as investors are hopeful the BlackBerry 10, debuting Jan. 30, will signal a turnaround for the company. A bullish analyst report triggered a rally Friday, with the stock rising 14%.
Shares of McGraw-Hill rose after the company, which owns Standard and Poor's, announced that it is selling its education arm, McGraw-Hill Education, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $2.5 billion U.S.
No major economic or corporate reports were handed down, so investors will be looking for signs of an economic recovery in retail sales. On Sunday, the National Retail Federation reported that the Black Friday weekend brought in a record $59.1 billion U.S. in sales, up 13% from last year.
Investors were also looking again at the fiscal cliff. Congress is back in session, and lawmakers will be under pressure to reach a deal with the White House before the end of the year.
Treasury prices gained ground, lowering yields to 1.66% from Friday’s 1.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shed 55 cents to $87.73 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices let go of $3.50 an ounce to $1,751.40 U.S.
