The Toronto stock market was firmly in the red Monday afternoon, led by declining oil and mining stocks as economic concerns persuaded investors to cash in some profits from last week's sharp runup.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 148.86 points, or 1.2%, to end Monday at 12,588.06, giving back the lion’s share of last week's resource sector-led gain of 1.5%
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.01 cents to 96.68 cents U.S.
The mining sector fell as September copper dipped three cents to $3.33 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources fell 63 cents to $28.07.
The energy sector was also down, as Canadian Natural Resources declined 84 cents to $30.66.
The gold sector lost ground while Kinross Gold faded 25 cents to $5.88.
Outside of the resource sector, financials were also a major drag, with Manulife Financial down 46 cents to $17.20.
The utilities sector fell as Algonquin Power and Utilities gave back 28 cents to $6.66.
The industrials sector moved down and Bombardier Inc. shares fell eight cents to $4.79 after a transportation analyst said delays in the first test flight of the company's new CSeries passenger jet will likely push its entry into commercial service into early 2015.
BlackBerry stock dropped 16 cents to $10.70 as new study said the smartphone maker is losing market share in most countries and regions, even in traditional strongholds such as South Africa and Indonesia. U.K.-based Juniper Research says Android devices have overtaken sales of Apple's iPhone globally, helped by low prices in developing countries.
American retailer Saks released its financial report a day early and like Wal-Mart, Macy's and Nordstrom last week, disappointed Wall Street. Saks' loss of $19.6 million U.S. was even deeper than analysts had expected.
Saks didn't hold a conference call because it's being acquired by Hudson's Bay Co. and it gave no outlook. On the TSX, HBC stock rose six cents to $17.34.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sagged 6.58 points to 936.63
All 14 Toronto subgroups were lower at the close, with utilities spilling 2.9% of their strength, metals and mining issues poorer by 2.5% and global base metals off 2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks moved lower Monday. But bond yields continued to creep higher amid chatter that the Federal Reserve could begin winding down its stimulus sooner rather than later.
The Dow Jones Industrials skidded 70.73 points to close at 15,010.70
The S&P 500 index docked 9.91 points to 1,645.92. The NASDAQ reversed its field and fell 13.69 points to 3,589.09
Worries that the central bank could taper its $85 billion U.S. a month in bond purchases, or quantitative easing, as early as September has spurred a huge selloff in bonds (see below)
Apple, which Icahn announced a "large" position in last week, continued to climb, hitting the highest level in seven months.
There was also plenty of chatter about Intel, which was upgraded to "neutral" by analysts at Piper Jaffray.
Shares of several Chinese companies were flying high and generating buzz on StockTwits as well. AutoNavi Holdings, in which Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba recently purchased a stake, was rising. Search engine Qihoo 360 Technology, Chinese real estate website SouFun Holdings and social network YY were also sharply higher.
The earnings calendar was light Monday, but results are due from J.C. Penney, Target and Hewlett-Packard later in the week.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, raising yields to 2.88% from Friday’s 2.83%. Treasury price and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 40 cents to $106.86 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subtracted $4.20 to $1,366.80 U.S. an ounce.
