Markets in Toronto betrayed some nerves at the opening of trade Monday, amid more downward movement for the price of oil.
The S&P/TSX composite index poked its head up 6.09 points to begin the week at 14,315.50
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.01 cents to 83.49 cents U.S.
On the corporate front, Goldcorp Inc. has offered to buy full control of Probe Mines Ltd. and its Borden gold project near Chapleau, Ont., in a friendly, all stock takeover valued at $526 million. Goldcorp currently owns about 9.3% of Probe.
Goldcorp opened today’s trading at $28.81, up 32 cents, or 1.1%, while Probe shares galloped $1.71, or 50.9%, to $5.07.
Energy stocks did not fare so well, as Canadian Natural Resources got bruised 27 cents, or 0.8%, to $35.24, and Imperial Oil sank 81 cents, or 1.7%, to $46.63.
Oil has plunged 55% from the highs of June 2014 and is down 40% just since the end of November after Saudi Arabia-led OPEC refused to cut production levels to support prices.
Copper prices were down sharply amid moves by Chinese authorities to stop the stock market's boom over the past year from turning into a bubble that could damage the broader economy.
Beijing's securities regulator rapped three major brokerages for continuing to lend money for stock purchases in violation of rules. As punishment for extending so called "margin trading" contracts, the brokerages are forbidden to offer credit to new customers for three months.
The move resulted in the Shanghai Composite Index plunging 7.7% as investors see the penalties against the brokerages as foreshadowing more curbs on credit-financed trading by China's government.
The crackdown by Chinese authorities came a day before the release of figures expected to show the economy slowed to a 7.2% year-over-year pace from 7.3% in the prior quarter.
March copper in New York was down five cents in electronic trading to $2.57 U.S. a pound.
On today’s economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that foreigners bought only $4.3 billion of our securities in November, while Canadian investments in foreign securities were boosted to $1.8 billion, all of it in bonds.
Acquisitions from abroad were mainly in Canadian corporate bonds as non-residents reduced their exposure to Canadian stocks for the first time in 15 months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 7.90 points to 675.21.
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups gained at the beginning of trade, with materials progressing 0.5%, gold 0.4%, and financials up 0.3%.
The four laggards were dragged lower by energy, down 0.9%, while utilities and real-estate stocks each dipped 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Markets are closed for Martin Luther King Day.
