Equity markets in Toronto sank on Monday, tracking global sentiment, after Greek voters rejected bailout terms for a debt deal, raising questions about the country's future within the euro-zone.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 87.46 points to open Monday at 14,594.93
The Canadian dollar shuttled lower 0.52 cents to 79.02 cents U.S.
Husky Energy Inc said operations will be suspended for about six to eight weeks due to unplanned maintenance work at its Lloydminster Upgrader in Saskatchewan. The maintenance activity is underway and will repair the facility's coke drums, the company said on Friday, adding that upstream heavy oil production was not expected to be impacted.
Husky shares moved lower 40 cents to $23.50.
Manulife Financial Corp shelved its 569-million-Singapore-dollar IPO of a real estate investment trust in Singapore on Monday, the first major Asian offering outside China to be pulled due to deteriorating global markets.
Manulife shares gave back 27 cents to $23.18.
A German regional minister gave his backing to potash miner K+S's rejection of an 8.8-billion-euro takeover bid by Potash Corporation, saying K+S should remain a German company. K+S has rejected a proposed bid by Potash of 41 euros per share, saying it was too low and warning its suitor could be planning to dismantle or shrink the salt and fertilizer company.
Potash shares dipped eight cents to $39.18
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Alamos Gold Inc to $9.00 from $8.50 based on the merger of equals with AuRico Gold the combination of both companies creates a higher quality intermediate gold producer.
Alamos shares ballooned 81 cents, or 12.7%, to $7.17.
RBC raised the rating on Capstone Infrastructure Corp. to outperform from sector perform as the company has an attractive portfolio of long-term contracted facilities in Canada, and low-risk utilities in Western Europe.
Capstone shares moved up seven cents, or 2.3%, to $3.10.
On the economic beat, Western University’s IVEY Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 55.9 for June, compared to 62.3 for May, and 46.9 for June of last year.
The survey of company purchasing managers gauges how much was spent on purchases during the month, compared to previous timeframes. Any reading over 50 shows an increase in purchases; under 50, a decrease.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 4.77 points out of the gate to 665.81.
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower starting out, as metals and mining plunged 2.8%, their cousins among global base metals sank 2.7%, and energy swooned 1.9%.
The four gainers were led by gold, climbing 0.8%, real-estate, up 0.5%, and consumer discretionaries, inching up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower on Monday, following declines overseas, as uncertainty over the Greece debt crisis weighed on investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrials slid 63.13 points to 17,666.98, with UnitedHealth leading decliners and McDonald's, Wal-Mart and Disney attempting slight gains.
The S&P 500 index slumped 10.77 points to 2,066.01, with energy leading eight sectors lower and utilities and consumer staples the only two advancers.
The NASDAQ moved downward 22.96 points to 4,986.25, as Apple fell nearly 1% and biotechs initially edged lower.
In corporate news, Humana agreed to be bought by rival Aetna for $37 billion U.S. in cash and stock. Humana shareholders will receive $125 U.S. in cash and 0.8375 Aetna shares for each share they now hold.
Seritage Growth Properties, the real estate investment trust created by retailer Sears Holdings, will begin trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. Sears said the rights offering of Seritage shares expired last Thursday and that it was oversubscribed.
Dollar Tree has received U.S. Federal Trade Commission approval to acquire rival Family Dollar Stores after a nearly year-long review. The combined company will need to divest more than 300 stores. Dollar Tree expects the deal to be completed today.
U.S. economic data out Monday includes the Institute for Supply Management's June service sector survey, which hit 56.0 in June, versus the 56.2 estimate.
Markit's services PMI for June showed a final read of 54.8.
In a Sunday referendum, nearly two-thirds of Greeks voted "no," rejecting a proposal from international creditors that would have required more austerity reforms for debt relief.
Following the vote, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned on Monday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande meet in Paris later today to discuss a joint response, Reuters reported.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries climbed, lowering yields to 2.33% from Thursday’s 2.39%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded $2.62 a barrel to $54.31 U.S.
Gold prices moved higher $1.40 at $1,164.90 U.S. an ounce.
