The Toronto stock market advanced Monday while oil prices backed off amid demand worries and a stronger U.S. currency.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index backed well off its highs for the day, but still gained 14.19 points to close at 13,391.35. The main market had been up more than 100 points during the day.
The Canadian dollar settled back 0.57 cents to 102.67 cents U.S.
The base metals sector rose as copper prices bounced off early lows and the July contract on the Nymex was unchanged at $3.98 U.S. a pound. First Quantum gained $5.66, or 4.6%, to $128.76 while Quadra FNX Mining improved by 79 cents, or 5.8%, to $14.48.
The gold sector was up as Barrick Gold Corp. gained 36 cents to $43.99 and Goldcorp Inc. climbed 98 cents to $47.26.
The financial sector climbed with Scotiabank ahead 16 cents to $57.61 and Royal Bank was up 37 cents to $58.82.
Among oil issues, Suncor Energy slid seven cents to $38.50 and Cenovus Energy ducked back 23 cents to $32.67.
The positive showing on the TSX came after the market fell 1.39% last week, its third weekly loss in a row, leaving the main index below where it started 2011 trading. Higher commodity prices have supported the resource-heavy TSX but the commodities sector has been volatile recently amid worries about slowing economic growth and higher inflation.
The operator of the Toronto stock exchange was also in sharp focus after TMX Group Inc. said over the weekend it has received a takeover offer from Maple Group Acquisition Corp., made up of five of the country’s largest pension funds and four Canadian-owned investment dealers. The offer is worth about $3.6 billion.
Maple Group is offering $48 a share, a big premium from the TMX Group’s closing price of $41.75 on Friday and its shares ran ahead $2.30 to $44.05. TMX Group has been in the midst of an attempted multibillion-dollar merger with the London Stock Exchange.
In other corporate news, Research in Motion Ltd. is recalling about 1,000 of its PlayBook tablets that were shipped with faulty operating systems that may have prevented users from performing the initial setup of the device. In a statement, RIM said the majority of the affected devices haven’t reached customers. Its shares faded 20 cents to $41.72.
Valener Inc., which was created last September with the reorganization of Gaz Metro, said Quebec’s largest natural gas distributor posted a second-quarter profit of $108.2 million. Its shares gained 16 cents to $16.34.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that manufacturing sales increased 1.9%, or $877 million, in March to $47.5 billion, following a 1.8% decline in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 41.95 points to 2,033.02 while the Nasdaq Canada index stumbled 6.79 points to 653.72
In Toronto, eight of the 14 subgroups were negative on the day. Health-care stocks sagged 1%, while information technology slid 0.8% and energy skidded 0.7%.
Gold led the half-dozen gainers, up 1%, materials picked up 0.9%, and the metals and mining group garnered 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks seesawed Monday as investors remain focused on oil prices and the debt crisis in Europe.
The Dow Jones industrial average turned south 47.38 points leading up to the closing bell at 12,548.40.
The S&P 500 gave back 8.30 points to 1,329.47. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 46.16 points to 2,782.31.
Stocks opened lower following a dour manufacturing report and weaker-than-expected earnings from home improvement retailer Lowe's. After posting gains in the morning, stocks fell anew in the afternoon.
Trading has been volatile recently as commodities such as oil and silver have fallen sharply from record highs. Investors are also bracing for the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program at the end of June.
Just two weeks ago, stocks were sitting at their highest levels in nearly three years. But all three major indexes are down almost 2% in May.
Oil prices, which had been trading at $115 U.S. a barrel not long ago, were down nearly 2% to below $98 U.S. a barrel. That weighed on shares of Exxon and Chevron
Despite the broad-based retreat, shares of Intel, Travelers and American Express all rose more than 1%.
Shares of home improvement chain Lowe's fell 3%, after the company reported earnings that fell short of forecasts and reigned in its forecast.
Department store J.C. Penney reported a profit of 28 cents U.S. per share, topping expectations by four cents U.S. Shares slipped 2%.
Also, the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. and IntercontinentalExchange said they are withdrawing their bid to acquire NYSE Euronext, following discussions with the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice
Economically speaking, the Empire Manufacturing survey came out before the start of trading. The regional reading for general business conditions for manufacturing slipped to 11.9, much lower than the reading of 18 than the consensus estimate of economists from Briefing.com. The index was 21.7 in April.
The National Association of Homebuilders said its May index of builder confidence was unchanged from the previous month at 16, as expected.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 3.15% from Friday’s 3.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for June delivery fell 29 cents by the end of the day to $97.08 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery fell $1.20 to $1,492.40 an ounce. Silver for July delivery fell 88 cents to $34.12 U.S. an ounce.
