Markets in Toronto declined in choppy trading on Monday as energy shares fell on lower oil prices and smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd dropped after a downgrade by Goldman Sachs.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 38.23 points to approach noon at 14,914.27.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.11 cents to 79.36 cents U.S.
Monday's decline in the TSX index follows a selloff on Friday, when a strong U.S. jobs report increased concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve might raise interest rates sooner than expected. The TSX index is down about 2.3% so far this month.
BlackBerry was 5.5% lower at $12.70, and the energy sector dropped on continued weakness in crude prices.
Among shares of energy producers, Suncor Energy Inc gave back 0.7% to $36.67, and Encana Corp was trading down at $14.63.
Financials slipped as Manulife Financial shed 0.3% to $21.66, and Sun Life Financial lost 0.6% to $39.43.
Economically speaking, Canadian housing starts fell much more sharply than expected in February, while January numbers were revised slightly lower, data showed on Monday.
A report from Canadian Mortgage and Housing showed the seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts fell to 156,276 units last month from a downwardly revised 187,025 in January. That fell short of the 180,000 economists had expected.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 3.51 points to 685.26
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower midday, as gold tumbled 3.2%, while utilities and materials each sank 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher on Monday as investors reevaluated the impact of Friday's strong jobs report on the timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
The Dow Jones Industrials shot higher 121.69 points at 17,978.47, with United Technologies leading gains and Intel the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 improved 4.04 points to 2,075.30, with energy leading all sectors higher, health-care being the only laggard.
The NASDAQ index slid 1.77 points to 4,925.60
Monday is the sixth anniversary of the bull market that began after the recession.
Apple is in focus Monday as it holds its first major event of the year, where it is set to formally unveil the price and final features of its watch at a meeting in San Francisco, which kicks off at 1 p.m. ET.
General Motors will buy back $5 billion U.S. in stock, and commit to returning any cash above $20 billion U.S. in the future to shareholders. Activist investor Harry Wilson has agreed to drop his bid to join the GM board following that announcement.
McDonald's reported comparable-store sales that fell globally and in the United States, sharply missing expectations of a mild decline.
Alcoa is buying metals producer RTI International Metals in a $1.5-billion U.S. stock transaction.
Goldman Sachs issued a buy rating on Exxon Mobil as it said the firm is the only one of the oil majors that will generate positive free cash flow in 2016, and will have the cash the make acquisitions going forward.
Earnings due after the bell Monday include Urban Outfitters, Casey's General, United Natural Foods.
Investors now see a June rate rise as more likely after February's non-farm jobs report showed a gain of 295,000, above expectations of 240,000 in February, down from 257,000 in January.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.5%, while hourly wages ticked up 0.1%, below consensus and off the surprise 0.5% gain in January.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields to 2.22% from Friday’s 2.24%. Treasury prices and yields tend to move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recouped 64 cents to $50.25 U.S.
Gold prices regained $3.40 to $1,167.70 U.S.
