Canada's main stock index fell from record highs on Monday as fresh signs of weakness in the euro zone and worries about a U.S.-China trade deal kept investors on the sidelines, while shares in First Quantum Minerals slumped $1.23, or 10.1%, after the miner denied takeover talks.
The S&P/TSX slipped 27.06 points to greet noon at 16,872.63, following a gain of 1.3% last week.
The Canadian dollar lopped off 0.06 cents at 75.37 cents U.S.
First Quantum was the biggest decliner on the main index after it said it had no knowledge of any potential takeover bids but confirmed it was in talks with Jiangxi Copper for a potential sale of a minority interest in its Zambian copper assets.
First Quantum stumbled into noon hour at $10.98
Shares of Osisko Gold Royalties followed with a 7.2% fall after the miner said it would buy Barkerville Gold Mines for $338 million.
Osisko shares shed $1.30, or 8%, to $14.96, while Barkerville was propelled six cents, or 13%, to 52 cents.
With spot silver price up over 3%, top gainers on the TSX were MAG Silver, vaulting 80 cents, or 5.4%, to $15.73, and First Majestic Silver, gaining 36 cents, or 2.7%, to $13.78.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported wholesale sales rose for a second consecutive month in July, up 1.7% to $65.4 billion. This is the sixth increase in the first seven months of 2019.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nicked up 0.98 points to 591.43
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups had faded by midday, as communications went south 1.2%, while financials and information technology each got dragged 0.4%.
The four gainers were led by gold, up 1.2%, energy, up 0.5%, and materials, up 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks slipped on Monday as weak economic data out of Europe stoked worries over the state of the global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 21.35 points by midday to 26,956.42
The S&P 500 regained 1.5 points to 2,993.57
The NASDAQ Composite recouped 2.01 points to 8,119.68, as Amazon shares declined.
Entering Monday’s session, the Dow and S&P 500 were more than 1% from their all-time highs. The NASDAQ was 2.7% away.
Amazon shares pulled back by 1.1% after an analyst at Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on the e-commerce giant to $2,200 from $2,300. The analyst cited Amazon’s one-day shipping for the target trim, but noted this will “will likely only deepen their moats” long term.
Manufacturing activity in Germany fell to its lowest level since the financial crisis this month, data from IHS Markit showed. Germany’s services sector also grew at its slowest pace in nine months. Overall, manufacturing in the euro zone fell to a more than six-year low while services grew at is slowest pace in eight months.
The U.S. manufacturing sector hit a five-month high in September, while the services sector grew at its fastest pace in two months, according to data from IHS Markit. However, IHS noted the manufacturing data remained among the weakest since 2016
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, lowering yields to 1.69% from Friday’s 1.72%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices recaptured 29 cents to $58.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $16.40 to $1,531.50 U.S. an ounce.
