The Toronto stock market opened for business Monday little changed as traders look to a busy week of economic data and corporate earnings and a major acquisition in the U.S. by Hudson's Bay Co.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 23.29 points to open Monday at 12,624.61
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.10 cents to 97.34 cents U.S.
HBC is buying luxury retailer Saks Inc. in a friendly deal worth $2.9 billion U.S., paying $16 U.S. per Saks share plus assumed debt.
HBC plans to keep Saks as a separate unit headquartered in New York and introduce the brand in Canada through online and other formats. HBC’s other holdings include The Bay and Lord & Taylor in the U.S.
HBC shares galloped $1.08, or 6.6%, to $17.57.
Meanwhile, traders looked to a flood of quarterly earnings during this week from a group of miners and energy companies. Expectations are low since these companies have suffered from low prices for oil and metals.
Miners reporting this week include Lundin Mining and uranium miner Cameco.
Lundin opened Monday down four cents to $4.25, while Cameco shed 30 cents a share to $21.59
It's a very heavy week for energy company earnings with Canadian Oil Sands, Talisman Energy, Suncor Energy and Imperial Oil posting results.
September copper edged up a penny to $3.12 U.S. a pound
The Toronto market ended last week slightly lower after four consecutive positive weeks amid earnings misses and some profit taking from a big runup in gold and base metal stocks during late June and July. The TSX moved down 37 points or 0.3% lower, leaving the main index up 2.02% year to date.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.16 points to 927.45
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower at the outset, as metals and mining shares shed 1.5% of their strength, global base metals were down 1.1%, and energy stocks lost 0.8%
The half-dozen gainers were led by telecoms, up 0.3%, consumer discretionaries, up 0.2%, and information technology stocks, inching up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
A flurry of mergers hit Wall Street Monday, with more than $46 billion U.S. in deals announced before the opening bell.
But that wasn't enough to get investors buying stocks, as several events later this week could set the tone for the rest of the summer.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded 36.48 points to open at 15,522.30
The S&P 500 index weakened 3.49 points to 1,668.16. The NASDAQ slid 4.62 points to 3,608.54
Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay bought iconic retailer Saks in a deal worth $2.9 billion U.S. Hudson's Bay owns rival luxury retailer Lord & Taylor (see above)
Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe announced a $35.1-billion U.S. deal to form the world's largest advertising agency. Shares of both companies were higher. The news also lifted shares of rival advertising agency Interpublic Group of Companies.
U.S. over-the-counter drugmaker Perrigo announced an $8.6-billion U.S. deal for Irish drugmaker Elan, a cash and stock deal that pays about a 26% premium for Elan shareholders. The Irish company was at the center of an insider trading scandal involving a former employee of embattled hedge fund SAC Capital.
Mall operator Simon Property and casino owner Wynn Resorts both reported improved quarterly earnings, although Wynn fell short of forecasts while Simon beat estimates. Hartford Financial and Express Scripts are on tap to report after the close.
Also after the bell, Herbalife, the multi-level marketing company that hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has attacked as a pyramid scheme, will release its second-quarter earnings.
Economically speaking, top officials at the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England all meet this week. The Fed is unlikely to make any changes to its quantitative easing policies of buying $85 billion U.S. in bonds and mortgage-backed securities a month.
There is also a ton of U.S. economic data on tap, with a report on second-quarter gross domestic product and the government's monthly jobs report Friday.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury dipped, raising yields to 2.58% from Friday’s 2.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave back 18 cents to $104.55 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were eight dollars better to $1,329.50 U.S. an ounce.
