Canadian stocks fell again on Monday, two a more-than-two-and-a-half-year low, as declining oil prices dragged down the country’s energy companies.
The S&P/TSX composite index plunged 131.29 points, or 1.1%, to end Monday at 11,942.17, continuing the downward path it started in the last trading week of 2015.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.09 cents to 68.70 cents U.S.
The last time the TSX closed below 12,000 points was in June 2013. The index is now down almost 23% from its all-time high close of 15,657.63 set on Sept. 3, 2014.
Kelt Exploration and Paramount Resources were among the biggest decliners among energy producers, Kelt off 26 cents, or 7.7%, to $3.13, while Paramount lost 21 cents, or 5.1%, to $3.93.
Canadian Oil Sands surged 80 cents, or 10.7%, to $8.28 after agreeing to a sweetened takeover offer from Suncor Energy. Suncor clinched the deal after it raised its all-stock offer by 12% to $4.2 billion. Suncor fell $1.56, or 5%, to $29.66.
Health-care stocks shared in the suffering, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals gave back 85 cents, or 0.7%, to $128.05.
Information technology stocks clicked lower, too, as BlackBerry dropped 12 cents, or 1.2%, to $10.01.
Among financials, TD Bank backtracked seven cents to $49.38, while Royal Bank of Canada surrendered 18 cents to $66.87.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.89 points Monday to 485.07.
All 13 TSX subgroups finished negative, energy and health-care shares in a dead-heat for the biggest drop at 2.6% each, while information technology plummeted 2.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Markets stateside were closed Monday for Martin Luther King Day.
