Equities in Canada’s busiest market lost ground midday Monday. Lower oil prices weighed on energy stocks, while financial sector and industrial stocks also retreated as investor attention turned to the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate meeting this week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index were negative 87.78 points to greet noon Monday at 13,786.22
The Canadian dollar slid 0.06 cents to 78.89 cents U.S.
Energy stocks fell, including a 1.9% decline in Suncor Energy to $35.62.
Shares of Precision Drilling Corp fell 5% to $5.70. The rig contractor posted a first-quarter loss, compared with a profit a year earlier, hurt by lower demand for rigs amid a prolonged slump in oil prices.
Bank stocks such as Toronto-Dominion Bank fell 1.1%to $55.56, while Bank of Nova Scotia was down 0.9% at $64.68.
Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International rose 3.8% to $47.28. The company named Joseph Papa as its chief executive officer, the day after he resigned from the top spot at drug maker Perrigo Co Plc.
Among industrials, Bombardier rallied 4.4% to $1.79. Reports that the company is involved in launching an airline in Iran are inaccurate, the Canadian aircraft maker said on Sunday, although it confirmed it was in talks
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained afloat 1.38 points Monday to 657.56
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups sank Monday morning, energy and industrials faring the worst, off 1.2% each, while information technology retreated 1.1%.
The two gainers were real-estate, up 0.2%, while consumer discretionary issues inched 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Energy stocks led declines in U.S. stocks Monday as the major averages traded lower ahead of major central bank meetings and a slew of earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials gave back 104.92 points to 17,898.83, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most to declines.
The S&P 500 lost 12.02 points to 2,079.56. Telecommunications and consumer staples were the only advancing S&P 500 sectors in midday trade.
The NASDAQ Composite Index fell 22.03 points to 4,884.2, weighed by sharp declines on disappointing earnings from major tech firms. The index is 6.2% below its 52-week intraday high and still in negative territory for the year so far.
Shares of Microsoft and Alphabet were little changed in midday trade Monday after plunging more than 5% Friday.
Before Monday's open, Xerox posted earnings that missed and cut its full-year earnings forecast due partly to expenses related to its planned breakup. Revenue beat expectations but still fell 4.2%, hurt by a strong dollar and lower sales of printers and copiers.
Private-equity firm KKR reported its second loss in quarterly earnings in less than a year as volatile financial markets dragged on the value of its investments.
Halliburton said it cut 6,000 jobs in the first quarter. The oilfield services giant delayed its earnings report from Monday morning to next month as it works on clearing regulatory hurdles for its planned merger with rival Baker Hughes.
Earnings due later in the week include Apple, Boeing, Facebook and Amazon.com.
New home sales in March fell 1.5% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 511,000.
The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected not to move on interest rates at its meeting scheduled for this Tuesday and Wednesday, but investors will analyze the statement for indications on the potential for a hike at the June meeting.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury slumped a bit, raising yields 1.9% from Friday’s 1.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 34 cents a barrel to $43.39 U.S.
Gold prices surged $7.33 to $1,240.36 U.S. an ounce.
