Financials led the way to a loss on the Toronto stock market Monday afternoon as traders digested the first reports from a heavy slate of top drawer economic data.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 53.32 points to close Monday at 13,495.54
The Canadian dollar was down 0.16 cents to 93.87 cents U.S.
Financials were among the biggest losers on the TSX, as Scotiabank turned 73 cents lower to $64.73 while Power Financial declined 66 cents to $35.08. Traders have taken some profits over the last week from financials, which ended 2013 up about 20%on the TSX.
Industrials also weighed on the TSX, as Canadian National Railways reversed 80 cents to $59.28.
Telecoms lost ground with Telus down 45 cents to $36.33.
March copper was unchanged at $3.36 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector was lower. HudBay Minerals was down 25 cents to $8.47.
The energy sector was off as Cenovus Energy gave back 37 cents to $29.60.
Crude fell 6% last week due to growing inventories in the U.S. and an expected recovery in Libyan production.
The TSX gold sector advanced. The trading year is only days old but the gold component is already up more than 3% over the past week after plunging almost 50% in 2013. Barrick Gold improved by 27 cents to $19.58.
But Kirkland Lake Gold tumbled 40 cents, or 13.3%, to $2.60 after it said it has launched a strategic review of the company, which it may include the potential sale of assets or offering of shares.
Tech stocks were mainly positive with MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates up $1.18 to $82.50.
BlackBerry Ltd. has hired 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 42 cents, or 5.2%, to $8.51.
Economically speaking, 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 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 finished positive 1.34 points to 946.05
The 14 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers. The gainers were led by information technology, up 0.9%, while utilities and gold each climbed 0.5%.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by financials and industrials, each down 0.7%, and global base metals dipped 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were lower Monday as investors kicked off the first full week of the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average stumbled 44.89 points to close at 16,425.10
The S&P 500 index fell 4.60 points to 1,826.77. The NASDAQ finished negative 18.23 points to 4,113.68.
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 bid 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.
Twitter shares were trading just under $65 U.S., down from a high near $75 in late December.
SolarCity shares jumped after being upgraded by Goldman Sachs. SolarCity's chairman is Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Meanwhile, First Solar shares tumbled after Goldman downgraded the stock in the same report.
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 32 cents to $93.64 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shed $1.10 to $1,237.50 U.S. an ounce.
