Mining stocks weighed on the Toronto stock market Monday – the first day of the second quarter -- as data showed the American manufacturing sector expanded at a much slower pace than expected pace last month.
The S&P/TSX index gave back 54.76 points to end the day at 12,695.14
The Canadian dollar was up 0.08 cents at 98.36 cents U.S.
The base metals component fell as May copper slipped four cents to an eight-month low of $3.36 U.S. a pound. Taseko Mines moved down eight cents to $2.75 while Lundin Mining lost 17 cents to $4.27.
Railway stocks fell alongside miners with Canadian Pacific Railway down $3.39, or 2.6%, to $129.15.
The gold sector lost ground Barrick Gold Corp. faded 33 cents to $29.51.
Tech stocks were mixed with CGI Group down 79 cents to $26.82 while smartphone maker BlackBerry gained 33 cents, or 2%, to $15.39.
The energy sector shed early gains to end the day fairly flat, even as Cenovus Energy was up 26 cents at $31.72.
Elsewhere on the market, shares in Molson Coors gained $2.96, or 6.1%, to $51.89 U.S. in New York after Goldman Sachs upgraded the brewer to a buy rating from neutral and upped its stock target to $63 U.S. The stock closed in Toronto at $52.15, up $2.80 or 5.7% from Thursday.
Meanwhile, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Monday that the country’s manufacturing picked up in March in a potentially positive sign for the world’s second-largest economy.
Its Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.9 in March from 50.1 in February, which was the lowest reading in five months. Numbers above 50 denote expansion on a 100-point scale.
Chinese manufacturing is closely watched as an indicator of global consumer sales and demand for commodities such as copper and oil.
High demand in the past has fueled higher share prices for energy and mining stocks on the resource-intensive TSX.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 9.44 points to 1,089.56
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower on the day, led by metals and mining, global base metals and industrials, each off 1.6%.
The only subgroups to emerge positive were health-care, up 1%, and energy, scraping higher by 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
After an epic start to the first quarter, the second trading quarter started with a whimper. Stocks pulled back Monday following an underwhelming report on U.S. manufacturing.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded 5.69 points to close at 14,572.80
The S&P 500 index moved lower by 7.68 points from Thursday’s all-time high, to 1,561.51 The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite faded 28.35 points to 3,239.17.
Still, investors said this mild selloff didn’t hint at broader pessimism about stocks or the economy. Several traders said it didn't take much to move the needle Monday, as volumes were extremely light following the holiday weekend.
In company news, Tesla Motors jumped more than 14%, after the electric car maker said it expects to achieve its first-ever quarterly profit based on strong sales of its all-electric Model S.
Shares of eBay rose nearly 4% after analysts raised price targets on the online retailer.
Meanwhile, shares of Blackberry jumped 5% as investors continued to bet that fortunes were turning around for the smartphone maker.
On the economic slate, the Institute for Supply Management's monthly manufacturing index for March came in at 51.3. That was lower than estimates of 54.0 and also below its February reading.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury were up slightly, lowering yields to 1.84% from Thursday’s 1.85%. Treasury prices yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell back 21 cents to $96.90 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $6.50 to $1,599.50 U.S. an ounce.
