The Toronto Stock Exchange was in negative territory Monday afternoon, with the gold and energy sectors losing ground as commodity prices backed off and investors reacted to a $7.3-billion mining deal.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended Monday down 67.20 points to 13,904.82
The Canadian dollar slid 0.03 cents to 104.7 cents U.S.
Mining stocks moved higher after the announcement of a $7.3-billion takeover deal between Canada's largest gold producer and base metals miner Equinox Minerals Ltd.
Barrick Gold Corp. has agreed to purchase Toronto-based Equinox for $8.15 per Equinox share in cash. The friendly agreement follows a hostile bid made earlier this month for Equinox by Chinese-owned Minmetals Resources Ltd. valued at $6.3 billion.
Shares in Equinox added 11.5% or 86 cents to $8.36. Barrick shares lost $3.58 or 6.8% to $49.49.
Copper prices fell 10 cents to $4.30 U.S. per pound. Shares in Teck Resources lost 1.3% or 70 cents to $53.13 on the TSX.
Crude prices lost out in price after rising steadily through $113 U.S. over the weekend as Libyan rebels in control of key oil producing areas in the OPEC country said they won't produce crude for at least a month as they repair fields damaged in fighting. Shares in Imperial Oil fell 1.3% or 67 cents to $49.95 on the TSX.
In other corporate news, Tembec Inc. shares fell 3.8% or 20 cents to $5.06 after it said its U.S. subsidiary has filed for bankruptcy protection.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange ducked back 19.91 points to 2,261.73 while the Nasdaq Canada index dropped 3.28 points to 752.71
In Toronto, the 14 subgroups were evenly split between winners and losers. Metals and mining issues were up 1.9%, industrials advanced 0.6%, and global base metals moved ahead 0.5%
The seven subgroups that lost were anchored by gold, down 2.5%, materials, off 1.4%, and energy issues, down 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks fell Monday, with the exception of some tech shares, as investors turned cautious amid a pause in the flow of corporate results and awaited a statement from the Federal Reserve later this week.
The Dow Jones industrial average tailed off 26.11 points to 12,479.90
The S&P 500 slid 2.13 points to 1,335.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index strengthened 5.72 points to 2,825.88.
Stocks retreated after the Dow ended last week near a three-year high on a batch of strong corporate earnings.
While there were no top-tier corporate results released Monday morning, the week ahead brings quarterly results from nine Dow components and 180 members of the S&P 500, including Netflix after Monday's close.
Investors were also awaiting comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who is scheduled to hold a first-ever news conference Wednesday after the central bank releases its official policy statement.
One expert said corporate reports due after the closing bell could help set the tone for trading in the following session. But he expects the market to drift between small gains and losses this week as investors hold off on big bets before hearing from Bernanke.
The market was closed Friday in observance of Good Friday.
Shares of Kimberly-Clark were down 3.2% after the maker of paper products said first-quarter earnings fell 6.5% from the same period last year.
Netflix will announce first-quarter results after the closing bell. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the online movie rental company's profit to surge almost 80%, as sales climb 43% from a year earlier.
On the economic slate, sales of new homes rose more than expected in March, although the weak housing market remains a concern for many investors.
March new home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000, up 11% from the the revised February rate of 270,000, the Census Bureau said.
Economists were expecting a sales rate of 280,000, according to consensus estimates gathered by Briefing.com.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained some ground, lowering yields to 3.36% from Thursday’s 3.40%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery gave back eight cents to $111.22 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery rose $7.10 to $1,510.70 U.S. an ounce, after setting a new intraday trading high of $1,518.60 U.S. earlier Monday.
