Equities in Canada’s biggest market ended a four-day rally amid falling oil prices and renewed concerns about a slowdown in China on Monday.
The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 147.46 points, or 1.2%, to close Monday at 12,674.37.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.20 cents to 71.78 cents U.S.
The index had rallied 8.3% in the final trading days of last month, after hitting a two-and-a-half year low on Jan. 20.
Energy stocks sagged most, as Suncor Energy Inc. dropped $1.35, or 4.1% to $31.83, while Enbridge Inc. was down $1.69, or 3.5%, to
$46.97.
Royal Bank of Canada sank $1.28, or 1.8%, to $71.27, and Bank of Nova Scotia dumped $1.05, or 1.8%, to $56.34, to lead the nation’s largest lenders lower.
Amaya Inc. surged $3.01, or 20.1%, the biggest gain since June 2014, to close at 18.00, after the company said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Baazov has indicated he intends to make a cash offer for the firm. The potential offer for Amaya, the world’s largest online poker company and owner of PokerStars, values the company at about $2.8 billion.
Other influential movers on the index included Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., which rose $4.27, or 3.3%, to $133.27, and Canadian National Railway, which declined $1.50, or 2%, to $74.45.
China's manufacturing activity contracted at its fastest pace in almost three and a half years in January, suggesting the world's second-largest economy was off to a weak start in 2016.
Manufacturing growth also slowed in the euro-zone at the start of 2016.
On the economic beat, the seasonally-adjusted RBC Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index registered 49.3 last month, up from December’s 47.5, but still below the 50 threshold for the sixth straight month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 0.72 points, to 500.24
Nine of the 13 TSX subgroups were negative on the day, with energy sliding 3.6%, metals and mining stocks down 3%, and real-estate 1.5% to the bad.
The four gainers were led by health-care, up 1.9%, gold, shining 1.7% brighter, and telecoms up 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed narrowly mixed Monday, the first trading day of February, despite declines in oil prices and soft China manufacturing data.
The Dow Jones industrial average was negative 17.12 points to finish at 16,449.18. Overall, 3M, Exxon Mobil and Chevron were the greatest weights on the Dow, while Nike and Wal-Mart were the top contributors to gains.
The S&P 500 pointed downward 1.14 points to 1,939.10. Utilities closed 1% higher to lead S&P 500 advancers, followed by telecommunications.
The NASDAQ index recovered 6.41 points to 4,620.37, as Facebook extended recent gains and shares of Alphabet rose ahead of its earnings report, due after the close.
Monday brings more major earnings reports, including Google's parent company Alphabet after the close.
In morning quarterly reports, Aetna earned an adjusted $1.37 U.S. per share for its latest quarter, 16 cents above estimates, with revenue also beating forecasts.
The health insurer was helped by improved membership numbers and margins in its Medicare business. However, it is also projecting full-year 2016 earnings of $7.75 U.S. per share, below estimates of $8.05 a share.
Cardinal Health posted earnings that beat on both the top and bottom line, helped by factors such as growth in its customer base and solid fundamentals.
Facebook extended recent gains to hit a fresh intraday record high. The social media giant reported earnings last week that blew past estimates.
Economically speaking, Markit's U.S. Manufacturing PMI for January came in at 52.4, a touch below the flash read but above December's final 51.2 print.
Earlier, personal income for December showed a 0.3% increase. Consumer spending was unchanged for the month, while November spending was revised higher to 0.5%.
Excluding food and energy, prices were unchanged after nicking up 0.2% in November.
Oil fell, under pressure from weak economic data from China and news that an OPEC source played down talk of an emergency meeting.
Overnight, China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for January fell to 49.4, the weakest read since August 2012 and marking a six-straight month of contraction. The official non-manufacturing PMI fell to 53.5 in January from 54.4 the prior month.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 1.96% from Friday’s 1.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $2.15 a barrel to $31.47 U.S.
Gold prices leaped $11.40 to $1,129.61 U.S. an ounce.
