The Toronto Stock Exchange lost nearly 100 points Monday, as commodity prices weakened amid faltering confidence that Greece can meet its debt obligations.
The S&P/TSX Composite ended the day down 91.67 points to 12,172.04
The Canadian dollar slid 1.11 of a cent to 101.04 cents U.S.
With Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou cancelling a trip to the United States and the Greek cabinet meeting to come up with fresh austerity measures, investors remain concerned that the country will not get its hands on the euro8 billion ($11.01 billion U.S.) due from last year’s euro110-billion bailout.
On the TSX, shares in Suncor Energy Inc. slipped 21 cents to $29.42.
Shares in Barrick Gold Corp. added 41 cents to $52.93. Copper prices slid 14 cents to $3.79 U.S. a pound. On the TSX, shares in Teck Resources Ltd. lost $1.36 cents to $37.74.
Matters macroeconomic got the day off Monday in this country, but on the calendar this week, investors can expect to see data on leading indicators, wholesale trade, the consumer price index and retail trade figures.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange got bruised 22.04 to 1,740.81, while the Nasdaq Canada index was down 3.55 points to 480.31
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups lost ground on the day. Metals and mining stocks stuttered 4.5%, while global base metals shed 3.2% and industrial stocks listed lower 1.3%.
The three gainers were consumer staples, picking up 0.7%, consumer discretionary issues, up 0.4% and financials, inching up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks trimmed some earlier losses Monday afternoon, but remained sharply lower as investors fret over the possibility of a Greek default.
The Dow Jones Industrials ended the day lower by 108.08 points to 11,401.
The S&P 500 had let go of 11.92 points by the closing bell to 1,204.09, while the Nasdaq shed 9.48 points to 2,612.83.
All 30 Dow components were in the red, and all but a handful of companies in the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were trading lower. Financial stocks including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley were the hardest hit. Technology stocks gained some ground, with shares of Apple hitting an all-time high.
Shares of Netflix shed 5% after co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings published a blog post overnight apologizing for the way the recent changes in charges were communicated and renaming the its DVD-by-mail service Qwikster.
Tyco International's stock rose 2% after the company said it will separate into three independent, publicly traded companies.
Shares of Goodrich popped 15% amid speculation that the company would be taken over by United Technologies
Shares of Lennar spiked 4% after the homebuilder said that new orders increased during the quarter for the first time in more than five years, a good sign for future demand.
UBS shares dropped 4%. The Swiss bank kicked off an internal investigation into the failure of its risk systems, after raising the amount it lost on "rogue" trades to $2.3 billion U.S.
Apple shares edged up almost 3% and hit an all-time high of $411.85 U.S. per share.
The day's steep declines were sparked by growing jitters over Europe's debt crisis.
Even though the Greek economy is relatively small, "the great unknown is problematic for investors", according to some experts.
U.S. stocks posted solid gains Friday, clinching a five-day winning streak for the first time in more than two months. The Dow and S&P were each up around 5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 6.3% for the week. The five-day move was the best in more than two years.
But investors' primary attention remains on Europe's debt crisis.
European Union finance ministers reached an agreement Friday on a package of reforms aimed at strengthening economic governance across the monetary and currency union.
But the plan for increased stringency in Europe didn't ease investors' fears for how the region will get out of its current situation.
The group of leaders concluded their meeting in Poland by deciding to wait until October before giving Greece the next round of funding to help it bail out from its debt load.
Meanwhile, President Obama is set to unveil a plan Monday detailing the U.S. plan for cutting the national debt by $3 trillion U.S. over the next decade.
Because the president's plan includes tax increases, investors are skeptical that Washington will ever be able to pass anything.
Also this week, investors are waiting to hear from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Federal Open Market Committee expanded its meeting to two days from one, which investors have taken as a sign that the policymaking committee will take action. The Fed could try to pump money into the economy by purchasing bonds through a third round of quantitative easing, known as QE3.
Economically speaking, separately, the housing market index by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo fell to 14, from a reading of 15 the previous month. Economists polled by Briefing.com were expecting the index to stay flat at 15.
The index has held in a tight range -- between 13 and 16 -- for six straight months, a sign that housing market conditions remain stagnant.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury went sharply, pushing the yield down to 1.94% from Friday’s 2.08%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery fell $1.74 to $85.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery fell $35.80, or 2%, to settle at $1,778.90 U.S. an ounce.
