Equities in Canada’s largest centre were little changed on Monday, as gains in energy shares offset a drop in the materials and industrials sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index faded 14.72 points to roll into noon hour at 16,420.74
The Canadian dollar vaulted 0.62 cents at 76.01 cents U.S.
Barrick Gold Corp's shares fell 2.9% to $15.76 after the Canadian miner said its chief executive officer, Kelvin Dushnisky, would quit and take the top job at South African gold producer AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.
Top drags on industrials were shares of Canadian National Railway, off 86 cents to $112.82, ahead of quarterly results on Tuesday, and Canadian Pacific Railway, down 85 cents to $254.85.
Top percentage gainers on the TSX were shares of cannabis firms Canopy Growth, which rose $2.40, or 7.5% to $34.25, and Aurora Cannabis, which climbed 33 cents, or 4.5%, to $7.69.
Chemtrade Logistics fell 51 cents, or 3.4%, to $14.69, top decliner on the TSX, after a stock rating cut and the second-biggest decliner was Interfor Corp, down 44 cents, or 1.9%, to $22.73.
On the economic area Statistics Canada reported wholesale trade rose 1.2% to a record $63.7 billion in May. Sales were up in four of seven sub-sectors, representing approximately 50% of total wholesale sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed afloat 0.57 points to 712.90.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, primarily gold, down 1.4%, materials, falling 1%, and industrials, off 0.5%.
The three gainers were health-care, surging 3.5%, while financials and real-estate were each richer by 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks slipped on Monday as investors awaited the release of quarterly results from some of the largest technology companies as well as key economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials dipped 12.07 points to 25,046.05, with 3M as the biggest laggard on the index.
The S&P 500 regained 2.38 points to 2,804.21, as utilities and industrials declined.
The NASDAQ recovered 8.29 points to 7,828.49
Google-parent Alphabet is set to report earnings after the bell on Monday, while Facebook and Amazon are scheduled to release their results later this week. Technology shares have been the best performers of 2018, rising 15.4% through Friday’s close.
Alphabet shares rose 0.2%, while Facebook traded flat. Amazon shares declined nearly 1%.
So far, more than 17% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings for the previous quarter, with 82% of those companies topping analyst expectations. Wall Street has high hopes for this earnings season, with analysts expecting year-over-year growth of 20%.
Hasbro reported better-than-expected earnings Monday before the bell, sending its shares higher by more than 12%. Halliburton posted an in-line quarterly profit, but its stock fell more than 1%.
Trade fears have kept stock gains in check recently. Since June, the S&P 500 has traded in a 4.6% range through Friday's close.
Shares of Fiat Chrysler fell more than 1.5% after Sergio Marchionne stepped down from his post as CEO due to health reasons. Mike Manley, who runs the company’s Jeep division, will take over for Marchionne.
Tesla’s stock dropped 4% after the Wall Street Journal reported the company is asking some suppliers to refund part of previous payments.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped, raising yields to 2.95% from Friday’s 2.9%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices held onto 40 cents to $68.66 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dawdled $5.40 at $1,225.70 U.S. an ounce.
