Utility and industrial stocks helped push the Toronto stock market lower Monday, even as gold stocks continued to come back from oversold levels while strong Chinese manufacturing data that came out last week lifted base metal miners.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell two points to end the session at 12,760.30, after spending much of the day in positive country.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.10 cents to 95.21 cents U.S.
The gold sector advanced as Iamgold gained 10 cents to $7.16 while Barrick Gold Corp. climbed 43 cents to $21.54.
The base metals sector moved forward while September copper shed early gains to fall three cents to $3.32 a pound. Prices found support last week after HSBC's purchasing managers’ index showed Chinese manufacturing moving back into expansion territory.
Thomson Creek Metals Co. gained 20 cents to $4.16 while Taseko Mines was up seven cents at $2.33.
The energy sector faded slightly as Suncor Energy dipped 30 cents to $35.76.
Outside the resource components, financials also lifted the TSX as traders look to the release of earnings from almost all the big Canadian banks this week.
Elsewhere in the sector, TD Bank Group says it is continuing talks with Aimia Inc. and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in connection with a possible acquisition of part of the existing CIBC Aeroplan credit card portfolio. CIBC rose $1.04 to $80.92 and TD gained 48 cents to $89.29.
In other corporate news, Onex Corp. and a private equity affiliate are selling their combined 60% stake in TMS International Corp. for $410 million U.S.
TMS International Corp., through its subsidiaries including Tube City IMS, is the largest provider of outsourced industrial services to steel mills in North America as well as having a substantial international presence. Onex shares slipped 75 cents to $51.10.
On Friday, Statistics Canada releases figures for gross domestic product growth in June and the second quarter. Economists expect the data to show GDP contracted 0.5% during the month, in part because of severe flooding in Alberta and a construction sector strike in Quebec.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.02 points to 954.58, after an 11-point hike Friday.
In all, eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower, weighed mostly by utilities and industrials, down 0.9% each, while real-estate trailed Friday’s close by 0.8%.
The five gainers were led by materials, up 1.7%, gold, up 1.2%, and metals and mining, ahead 1.1%. Global base metals were unchanged on the day.
ON WALLSTREET
When will the U.S. Federal Reserve begin to pull back on its bond buying program?
It appears investors are unwilling to make big bets until they have more clarity on that question, and those jitters made their way into the equity picture Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 64.05 points to close Monday at 14,946.50
The S&P 500 index dipped 5.85 points to 1,657.65. The NASDAQ erased 0.22 points to 3,657.57
Shares of Amgen rose sharply after it agreed to buy Onyx Pharmaceuticals for $10.4 billion U.S, in a deal that will give Amgen access to a wide range of cancer treatment drugs.
Tesla shares, which are up more than 400% this year, continued to surge. In another sign of success for Elon Musk's electric car, Tesla sales topped those of the Porshie, Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Lincoln in the Golden State, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.
Facebook was also in the picture, as shares continued to advance closer to Facebook's all-time high of $45 U.S. per share.
Shares of two 3D printing companies -- 3D Systems and Stratasys -- were also rising after Citigroup began analyst coverage on both companies with a buy rating.
Meanwhile, the BATS Global Markets and Direct Edge Holdings exchanges announced that they will merge in a deal that would create that second-largest stock exchange by trading volume.
The deal comes just a few days after a major trading glitch that affected NASDAQ OMX. BATS also experienced significant trading problems a year ago, issues that forced the company to cancel its plans to go public.
Volume should remain extremely light this week as the typically sluggish month of August is coming to a close and investors get ready for the upcoming Labour Day holiday.
Still, the possibility of the Fed starting to trim, or taper, the size of its $85 billion U.S. a month in asset purchases was the focus of debate this past weekend as central bankers from around the world took part in the Fed's annual monetary policy symposium in Wyoming.
A downbeat report on manufacturing was also adding pressure on the market. Durable goods orders tumbled 7.3% in July, the most in almost a year. The decline was worse than the 5% drop analysts were expecting, and followed three months of strong gains.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering to 2.80% from Friday’s 2.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 38 cents to $106.04 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $2.10 to $1,397.90 U.S. an ounce.
