Equity markets in Canada’s largest centre fell early on Monday, as investors bet that global central bank enthusiasm for monetary stimulus may be waning and oil prices dipped, while Potash Corp and Agrium Inc both gained after agreeing to merge.
The S&P/TSX Composite doffed 68.57 points to begin the day and week at 14,471.43
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.38 cents at 76.25 cents U.S.
Agrium and Potash said they would combine, a deal that would create a fertilizer and farm retailing giant with pro-forma enterprise value of $36 billion but also trigger U.S. regulatory scrutiny.
Agrium shares dropped 74 cents to $123.40, while Potash shares took on 12 cents to $22.26.
CIBC raised the target price on BRP Inc. to $31.00 from $28.00. BRP shares increased 29 cents, or 1.2%, to $25.50.
Barclays raised the target price on Canadian National Railway to $89.00 from $85.00. CN shares dropped one cent to $81.13
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 5.88 points to 806.28
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative in the first hour, with energy off 0.9%, financials down 0.5%, and health-care sinking 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by information technology, soaring 1.3%, gold, brighter by 1.1%, and materials, better by 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded slightly higher on Monday on the heels of a global equities selloff as investors wondered when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates and kept an eye on the U.S. elections.
The Dow Jones Industrials regained 15.13 points to 18,100.58, after a near-400-point drop on Friday, with Apple contributing the most to gains
The S&P 500 recouped 3.91 points to 2,131.72, with telecommunications rising 1%, after briefly trading lower.
The NASDAQ Composite recovered 14.85 points to 5,140.89,
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Friday’s 1.68%.
Oil prices descended 18 cents at $45.70 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices sank $5.20 at $1,329.30 U.S. an ounce.
