Canada's main stock index fell on Monday as weakness in the price of oil dragged on shares of energy producers such as Suncor and Canadian Natural Resources.
The S&P/TSX composite index doffed 28.96 points to greet noon at 15,426.08. The index is still up about 13% this year.
The Canadian dollar remained positive 0.11 cents at 92.54 cents U.S.
Among oil and gas companies, Suncor gave back 1.1% to $45.08 and Canadian Natural lost 1.3% to $48.18
The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, declined, reflecting choppy action in the prices of gold and silver. Barrick Gold shed 0.9% to $20.02, and Goldcorp slipped 0.5% to $30.36.
Smartphone maker BlackBerry dropped 1.7% to $10.93.
The data calendar for Canada is light this week with only one major report. Statistics Canada posts May gross domestic product figures on Thursday. Economists look for a 0.3% gain for the month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved lower 3.21 points to 1,014.23.
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon hour ET, led by metals and mining, up 0.8%, while real-estate and global base metals each gained 0.3%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by energy, down 0.8%, industrials, off 0.6%, and information technology, sliding 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
A multitude of mergers didn't seem to lift investors' spirits Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrials eased 32.72 points at noon hour to 16,927.85.
The S&P 500 slipped 4.59 points to 1,973.75. The NASDAQ composite fell 18.08 points to 4,431.48
Zillow confirmed that it plans to buy Trulia for $3.5 billion U.S. in stock. The acquisition merges the two biggest names in online housing, and some media reported last week that some real estate agents were nervous that the sites' combined depth of local housing data could make in-person brokers irrelevant.
Shares of Trulia surged 8%, while Zillow slipped around 6%.
Family Dollar shares rallied 22% on news that it's being purchased by another discount retailer, Dollar Tree, for $8.5 billion U.S. Dollar Tree's stock also climbed.
Tyson Foods shares were up after the company announced in its earnings report that it plans to sell its Mexican and Brazilian poultry units for $575 million U.S.
Herbalife, which skyrocketed last week after hedge fund manager Bill Ackman failed to convince investors of his case against the nutritional supplement company, will report after the bell.
El Pollo Loco continues to look appetizing after its initial public offering last week. The stock shot up 17% Monday, following a more than 60% gain in its first day of trading Friday.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries lost ground, raising yields to 2.49% from Friday’s 2.47%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices decreased 48 cents to $101.61 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on 50 cents to $1,303.80 U.S. an ounce.
