Equity markets in Toronto started a busy trading week slightly lower as traders looked ahead to the release of top-drawer economic data and the start to the U.S. corporate earnings season.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 63.76 points at noon to 13,485.10
The Canadian dollar was down 0.23 cents to 93.80 cents U.S.
Telecoms led declines with Telus down 38 cents to $36.40.
Financials were also negative as Scotiabank turned 31 cents lower to $65.15.
March copper was down one cent to $3.34 a pound and the base metals sector was slightly lower.
The TSX gold sector advanced while Barrick Gold faded 35 cents to $19.66.
Tech stocks were largely positive with patents firm Wi-Lan up nine cents to $3.65.
BlackBerry Ltd. has appointed Ron Louks, who has held senior positions at HTC America Inc and Sony Ericsson, to help develop the company's long-term product roadmap. Its shares on the TSX were up 11 cents to $8.20 on the TSX.
Elsewhere on the corporate front, WestJet Airlines Ltd. had a load factor of 81.7% in December, the second-highest on record for the month, but down from 81.9% a year ago. Passenger traffic grew 7.2% last month compared with last year, while capacity increased 7.4%. WestJet shares edged five cents higher to $27.72
Economically speaking this morning, Statistics Canada reported this morning that its industrial product price index edged up 0.1% in November, compared to a market call for a figure that was 0.1% lower, mainly because of higher prices for motorized and recreational vehicles.
The agency’s raw materials price index dropped 4.1% in the same month, compared to a market call for a loss of 1.5%, weighed mostly by by crude energy products.
Canadian job numbers for December come out on Friday. At least one expert said he expects job creation to come in at about 10,000 for the month, below market consensus of 13,000 jobs.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.66 points to 944.05
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were lower, mostly global base metals, down 0.9%, while telecoms and financials eased 0.8% each.
The five gainers were led by gold, up 0.8%, materials, up 0.5%, and information technology, ahead 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were flat midday Monday as investors kicked off the first full week of the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average stumbled 41.48 points to pause for noon ET at 16,428.51
The S&P 500 index fell 5.44 points to 1,825.93. The NASDAQ remained negative 19.19 points to 4,112.72.
In corporate news, Men's Wearhouse launched a hostile bid for rival suit sellerJos. A. Bank After a series of friendly offers and counter offers, Men's Wearhouse made a $1.6-billion U.S. cash offer and notified that it will nominate two members for its board of directors.
Liberty Media Corporation unveiled a complex proposal to take full control of satellite radio company Sirius XM Holdings by swapping stock.
Liberty already owns a controlling stake in Sirius, but one analyst said the move is linked to a potential deal between cable companies Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable
Charter, which Liberty also owns a stake in, has reportedly been in talks with major banks to borrow money to fund a possible bid for Time Warner Cable.
Shares of Twitter fell sharply after the stock was downgraded by several analysts. Twitter had a strong rally last month, but shares have been volatile recently as analysts have warned that the stock is overvalued.
SolarCity shares jumped after being upgraded by Goldman Sachs. SolarCity's chairman is Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
After starting the year with a lackluster performance last week, stocks could continue to tread water in the run-up to Friday's big jobs report.
Investors are also awaiting the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting, when it announced plans to trim its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion to $75 billion U.S., beginning this month.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained strength, lowering yields to 2.96% from Friday’s 3%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices ditched 21 cents to $93.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added a dollar to $1,239.60 U.S. an ounce.
