The Toronto stock market was slightly lower Monday as mining stocks fell back ahead of a slate of earnings reports.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was just 1.40 points below breakeven to greet noon at 12,646.50
The Canadian dollar improved 0.20 cents to 97.44 cents U.S.
But the market found some support from Hudson's Bay Co. as Canada's oldest retailer said it is buying U.S. luxury retailer Saks Inc. in for $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 open seven Saks department stores in Canada. HBC's other holdings include The Bay and Lord & Taylor in the U.S. Its shares ran up $1.14 or 6.9% to $17.63.
Commodity prices turned mixed and the metals and mining component declined as September copper added a penny to $3.11 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources fell 35 cents to $24.76.
The base metals sector has had a positive month, up about 4% during July as investors bought into a sector badly beaten down amid weak commodities and a slow global economic rebound.
The component is still down about 27% year to date and investors have been selling off miners over the last couple of sessions ahead of a slew of earnings reports coming down from the resource sector.
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.
It's a very heavy week for energy company earnings with Canadian Oil Sands, Talisman Energy, Suncor Energy and Imperial Oil posting results.
Turquoise Hill Resources fell 64 cents or 11.8% to a new 52-week low of $4.811 as it said it's expecting a delay in developing its Oyu Tolgoi copper project in Mongolia due to the government's financing process.
Turquoise Hill's primary operation is its 66% interest in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver mine.
The energy sector drifted lower as Canadian Natural Resources fell 66 cents to $31.54.
The gold sector was off while Barrick Gold Corp. faded 15 cents to $18.13.
The telecom sector led TSX gainers with Rogers Communications down 44 cents to $41.80.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained two points to 927.29
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers. Telecoms surged 0.6%, consumer discretionaries and utilities were each 0.5% stronger.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by metals and mining stocks, down 2.1%, global base metals, down 1.5%, and energy, off 0.9%.
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 58.67 points to pause at midday at 15,500.20
The S&P 500 index weakened 8.19 points to 1,683.46. The NASDAQ slid 15.98 points to 3,597.18
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.
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 drug maker 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.
Rental car company Hertz reported results that met analysts' expectations, but shares were down 3% in early trading.
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.
Facebook shares have been on a tear since the social network reported strong quarterly results last week. The stock rose above $35 U.S. a share Monday and is closing in on its IPO price of $38 U.S.
Shares of Intuitive Surgical Inc. gained after the medical robotics company boosted its share repurchase program.
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 slew 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 a penny to $104.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were $9.30 higher to $1,330.80 U.S. an ounce.
