North American markets were mostly lower Monday afternoon, unable to build on Friday's rally despite a rate cut by China's central bank in a move aimed at stimulating the world's second-biggest economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell back 17.38 points to close Monday at 15,152.64
The Canadian dollar inched back 0.17 cents to 82.59 cents U.S.
Metals and mining plays were among the chief laggards, as Sherritt International shares plummeted 14 cents, or 4.5%, to $2.96, and Teck Resources shares gave back 66 cents, or 3.7%, to $17.40.
Energy stocks had a tough time of it, too, Monday, as Painted Pony Petroleum dipped 34 cents, or 4.1%, to $7.99, and Trinidad Drilling fell 20 cents, or 4%, to $4.76.
Among industrials – another losing group – Black Diamond Group lost 44 cents, or 2.8%, to $15.24.
The leading gainer on the day was in utilities, where Just Energy Group tacked on 15 cents, or 2.3%, to $6.70, and Emera Inc. chugged along 72 cents, or 1.8%, to $41.77.
Among gold issues, Oceana Gold galloped nine cents, or 3.6%, to $2.61, while Kinross Gold strengthened nine cents, or 3%, to $3.05.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 0.40 points to 690.75
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower on the day, with metals and mining sliding 1.6%, energy off 1.5%, and global base metals down 0.5%.
The half-dozen gainers were co-led by utilities and gold, each up 0.4%, while consumer staples inched up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, giving back some of Friday's rally on the jobs report, as investors eyed gains in bond yields and awaited the week's data releases.
The Dow Jones Industrials slipped 85.94 points to 18,105.17, with Caterpillar leading gains and Exxon Mobil the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 index moved downward 10.77 points to 2,105.33, with energy leading all 10 sectors lower.
The NASDAQ dipped 9.97 points to 4,993.57
Caterpillar gained 2% and Joy Global briefly rose more than 6% as both stocks were upgraded to "outperform" from "neutral" at Baird, saying the worst may be over for the commodity deflation cycle.
Cisco Systems spiked jumped more than 1.5% as one of the blue chip leaders. Pacific Crest upgraded the networking equipment maker to "overweight" from "sector weight," citing the beginning of a multi-quarter recovery driven by new product cycles.
Earnings expected after the bell include Rackspace and Surgical Care Affiliates.
Dish Network saw revenue rise 3.6% in its latest quarter, compared to a year ago, even though overall subscriber numbers dropped.
The satellite TV operator now makes an average $86.01 U.S. per subscriber compared to $82.36 U.S. a year ago.
Actavis reported adjusted quarterly profit of $4.30 U.S. per share, above estimates of $3.93 U.S., with revenue also above Street forecasts on higher sales of its branded drugs in North America.
Rosetta Resources will be acquired by fellow energy producer Noble Energy in an all-stock transaction valued at $2.1 billion U.S. Rosetta shareholders will receive 0.542 Noble shares for each share they now hold, an implied value of $26.62 U.S. per share.
Hilton Worldwide announced a 90-million-share secondary offering, with the shares coming from stockholders affiliated with Blackstone Group. Hilton will not receive any proceeds from the offering.
No major economic news or earnings reports were reported Monday. Retail sales and industrial production figures come out later in the week.
Overseas, the People's Bank of China announced the cut in its benchmark lending rate and one-year deposit rates by 25 basis points on Sunday, as growth in the Asian economic giant slowed to levels not seen since the global financial crisis.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries sagged, raising yields to 2.28% from Friday’s 2.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 15 cents to $59.24 U.S.
Gold prices lost $5.70 to $1,183.20 U.S.
