Equity markets in Toronto remained negative as morning became afternoon on Monday, with every major sector lower, as anxiety over democracy protests in Hong Kong rekindled the bearish sentiment that swept the market last week.
The S&P/TSX composite index was off its lows of the morning, but still negative, behind Friday’s close 55.54 points, to greet noon at 14,971.23
The Canadian dollar inched forward 0.15 cents to 89.81 cents U.S.
One bright spot amid a sea of red was Encana Corp., whose shares jumped 3% after the company said it agreed to buy Fort Worth, Texas-based Athlon Energy for $5.93 billion in cash.
Financials fell as Royal Bank of Canada lost 1.2% to $79.46, and Toronto-Dominion Bank declined 0.9% to $54.90.
Shares of energy producers and shed strength, with Canadian Natural Resources giving back 1.3% to $43.75 and Suncor Energy falling 1.2% to $40.21.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 4.62 points to 914.80
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were down by noon hour, with global base metals trailing Friday’s close by 1%, while materials and metals and mining each skidded 0.7%.
The four gainers were led by utilities, up 0.3%, while consumer staples and industrials eked higher 0.1% each.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks came out of their gully on Monday as investors turned to safe havens and unloaded risky assets like equities as unrest in Hong Kong outweighed better-than-expected consumer confidence data.
The Dow Jones Industrials was down 44.21 points to 17,069.03
The S&P 500 dropped 4.95 points to 1,977.90. The NASDAQ slid 3.09 points to 4,509.10.
DreamWorks Animation SKG surged 18% after The Hollywood Reporter said Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is looking to acquire the animation studio.
Athlon Energy Inc jumped 24% on news Encana Corp. will buy it for $5.93 billion U.S. in cash.
Shares of Ambit Biosciences Corp. climbed 86% to $15.22 U.S. on news Daiichi Sankyo Co. will buy Ambit for about $315 million U.S. in cash.
European Union regulators are expected to publish a report as soon as Monday showing that the tax practices of Apple Inc. and Fiat SpA violated EU law, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. Apple shares fell 1.4%.
Late Friday, Yahoo! Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer said the company is reviewing a letter from activist investor Starboard Value,urging it to merge with AOL Inc. Shares were 0.8% lower.
Options contracts on shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. are expected to become available on Monday. Shares fell 1.8% on Monday.
On the economic front, U.S. consumer spending rebounded in August as Americans spent more on heavy-duty items such autos and less on non-durable goods like gasoline, while income increased as well.
At least some of the early unrest in the market stemmed from violent pro-democracy clashes in Hong Kong over the weekend and on Monday, which forced some banks and businesses to close and pushed the Hang Seng Index 1.9% lower.
Meanwhile, the dollar eased after hitting its highest level in more than six years against the yen on the perception that the U.S. central bank is looking stronger than its peers around the globe.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.49% from Friday’s 2.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 27 cents to $93.81 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices remained positive four dollars to $1,219.40 U.S. an ounce.
