Stocks on Bay Street traded in the red Monday -- as crude to slid below the US$38 a barrel level and investors showed caution ahead of the start of the quarterly corporate reporting period.
The S&P/TSX composite index was off 291.85 points to 8,793.33.
In corporate news -- Magna International shares were down 44 cents to $38.70 after the auto parts maker said it is teaming up with Ford Motor Co. to produce a fully electric car that will get up to 160 kilometres on a single charge. Magna said the small car, based on the Ford Focus platform, will be on the market in 2011.
Units in Bell Aliant rose 17 cents to $24 after it said it is cutting 500 management jobs in a move to streamline operations and improve its bottom line.
On the data front -- Statistics Canada's New Housing Price Index increased 0.7 percent in November from a year earlier, a slower pace than the 1.5 percent advance recorded in October and the smallest 12-month increase recorded since August 1999. Prices decreased 0.3 percent between October and November, the second straight monthly decrease.
The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, traded 0.03 cents higher at 82.24 cents US.
BAYSTREET
One of the TSX sub-groups traded higher today -- telecom issues were ahead 0.40 percent and tech stocks were up 0.30 percent.
On the downside -- mining stocks were off 8.27 percent followed by a 4.16 percent drop in gold issues and a 3.98 percent slide in energy stocks.
Gold futures fell to a one-month low, with gold for February delivery down $34 to finish at $821 US an ounce.
Meanwhile, the TSX Venture Exchange was 30.55 points lower at 878.35 and the NASDAQ Canada was off 13.93 points at 474.93.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks on Monday sank to their lowest levels so far this year, with financials hammered the hardest. Investors appeared leery of what is likely to be an especially grim earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 125.45 points, or 1.5 percent, to 8473.73, and the S&P 500 gave up 20.09 points, or 2.3 percent, at 870.26. The Nasdaq shed 32.80 points, or 2.1 percent, to 1538.79.
Citigroup Inc. shares fell 17.3 percent with the banking powerhouse reportedly near a deal to combine its brokerage business with Morgan Stanley. Shares of Morgan Stanley shed 1.4 percent.
Shares of Harley Davidson were down sharply after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to sell, noting that unprecedented headwinds in global luxury motorcycle demand and credit have yet to be fully realized in the shares.
Longer-dated Treasuries reversed; the 10-year note was adding 24/32 to yield 2.3 percent, and the 30-year was up 1 16/32, yielding 3 percent.
Oil futures tumbled for a fifth straight session below $38 a barrel as the global economic downturn continued to fuel worries about demand. Crude for February delivery ended down $3.24, or 7.9 percent, at $37.59 US a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
