Falling mining stocks pushed the Toronto stock market slightly lower Monday as traders look to a heavy slate of earnings news coming out during the week.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 26.19 points to greet noon at 14,474.20
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.02 cents U.S. to 90.74 cents U.S.
On Monday, traders will look to results coming in after the close from Rogers Communications. Rogers acquired additional wireless spectrum during the January auction for $3.3 billion, which will be needed to allow consumers to stream NHL games on their mobile devices.
Rogers scored a $5.2-billion multi-year deal for the national rights to all NHL games last fall and its shares climbed 15 cents to $44.42.
Teck Resources also reports this week and its results will be impacted by falling commodity prices. Copper prices have tumbled 11% this year and coal prices have fared even worse, falling from $300 U.S. a tonne in 2011 to about $120 U.S. Teck shares slipped 24 cents to $24.07.
Meanwhile, shareholders in Canadian Pacific will look to see how severe winter weather affected the railway in the quarter and how increased petroleum shipments have lifted the bottom line. CP shares edged nine cents lower to $163.12.
Elsewhere on the corporate front, TransCanada shares fell $1.79 to $49.51 after the U.S. government said Friday that it needs more time to prepare its recommendation to President Barack Obama on the company's Keystone XL pipeline.
The southern leg of the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline is already completed, but the northern stretch that crosses the Canada-U.S. border requires a presidential permit.
Barrick Gold shares were down 48 cents to $19.33 following reports from the Wall Street Journal that merger talks between the Toronto-based mining company and Newmont Mining had broken off last week.
However, sources told Bloomberg and others that the issues separating the two parties are minor, leaving open the possibility that the deal could still happen.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 1.17 points to 997.60
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower by noon, weighed mostly by 1.3%, materials, off 1%, and the metals and mining sector, slipping 0.5%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by health-care, haler by 0.8%, information technology, up 0.3%, and real-estate, inching up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks drifted higher in early trading Monday as U.S. investors got back into action after the long holiday weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained positive 27.96 points – off their highs of the morning -- to break for lunch at 16,436.50
The S&P 500 gained 3.97 points to 1,868.82, and the NASDAQ composite index gained 15.68 to 4,111.20.
It will be a week full corporate earnings reports, including well known brands like Netflix and McDonald's and Facebook.
Earnings released Monday painted a mixed picture.
Kimberly-Clark, a producer of consumer products including Kleenex, reported a loss that was smaller than the loss reported a year ago. The CEO blamed "cost inflation."
Toy company Hasbro and energy producer Halliburton reported gains in net income, after reporting losses a year earlier.
Netflix will report today after the market closes. The stock has been one of Wall Street's big momentum plays and the top performer in the S&P 500 last year, with an incredible 269% rise. But tech stocks have been volatile over the past several weeks, and Netflix shares are down 6% this year.
There are many other big earnings announcements set for later in the week. GM, Apple and Stabucks will all be reporting.
Shares of Newmont Mining rose after Bloomberg reported that it's in talks to be bought by rival gold mining company Barrick Gold Corp. The report said negotiations hit a snag over three days ago, but suggested that Barrick is willing to pay a significant premium.
Chinese social media company Weibo, often compared to Twitter, continued to rally following its initial public offering last week. The stock gained 12% in early trading to a high near $23 U.S. a share.
Trading volume is expected to remain light, with many money managers taking the day off. U.S. markets were closed Friday for Good Friday. European markets and some Asian markets are still closed Monday for the Easter holiday.
It will be a heavy week for corporate earnings, with 11 Dow companies and 161 of the S&P 500 scheduled to release quarterly reports.
Analysts expect overall earnings for the S&P 500 to have declined the first quarter, but results so far have been better than forecast. Of the 82 companies that have reported earnings as of last week, 66% have topped forecasts, according to FactSet Research.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields to 2.69% from Thursday’s 2.72%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost one cent to $104.53 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $7.20 to $1,287.40 U.S. an ounce.
