Stocks began the week on a quiet note, with major indexes opening little changed on Monday as investors get ready for the unofficial start of the fourth quarter reporting season.
The S&P/TSX Composite inched higher by 9.71 points to begin the day and week at 12,198.35
The Canadian dollar gathered 0.16 cents to 97.42 cents U.S.
Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.3% and Suncor Energy Inc. fell 0.4%.
In corporate news, Canada’s largest publicly traded miner Teck Resources Ltd. is moving to solidify its position in the oil business, offering more than $435 million for its oilsands partner SilverBirch Energy Corp. The transaction is valued at $8.50 cash for each SilverBirch share plus one share of a new company, to be called SilverWillow Energy Corp.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported this morning that building permits skidded 3.6% to $6.1 billion in November, after a jump of 11.6% in October. A decline in the non-residential sector, particularly in Ontario, more than offset gains in the value of residential permits.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 9.68 points to 1,535.41, while the Nasdaq Canada index picked up 1.07 points to 382.54
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were ahead to start the week. Health-care issues progressed 0.9%, while gold gained 0.6% and global base metals garnered 0.5%.
The four laggards were weighed by telecoms, off 0.6%, utilities, down 0.4% and consumer staples, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks barley budged early Monday, as cautious investors continued to keep a close eye on events in Europe and geared up for the start of corporate earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrials were up only 8.33 points to open at 12,368.20
The S&P 500 gained 2.63 points to 1,280.44, while the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 2.10 points to 2,676.32.
Aluminum producer and Dow component Alcoa will kick off the quarterly reports season after the closing bell. Analysts expect a modest sales increase and a big profit drop.
Overall, earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are expected to be up 7.5% in the final three months of 2011, versus the same period in 2010, according to research from S&P Capital IQ.
Novartis shares slipped after the Swiss pharmaceutical company recalled bottles of over-the-counter drugs, including Excedrin and Bufferin because of complaints about mislabeled and broken pills.
Netflix shares rose after CEO Reed Hastings told Reuters that the company began gaining back U.S. subscribers in the fourth quarter of last year. That said, he still doesn't expect the company to turn a profit in 2012. Netflix also launched its service in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Monday, going up against Amazon-owned rival Lovefilm.
Investors also continued to keep tabs on developments out of Europe.
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that progress has been made on a proposed intergovernmental pact to increase fiscal discipline across the euro-zone. The leaders added that the pact could be signed ahead of the Jan. 30 E.U. summit and go into effect as early as March.
Early Monday, a €3.9-million auction of six-month German bills drew strong demand, pushing the yield to a negative 0.0122%. German bonds are considered a safe haven, so the strong demand reflects the ongoing investor worry surrounding Europe's debt crisis.
In another sign of nervousness, euro-zone banks parked an all-time high of €463.5 billion in the European Central Bank's overnight deposit facility Friday. European banks don't get much in return by lending to the E.C.B; they use the central bank's deposit facility in lieu of lending to each other at higher rates in times of uncertainty.
On the economic front, the Federal Reserve will release data on consumer credit for the month of November Monday afternoon. Analysts surveyed by Briefing.com expect consumer credit to have increased by $7 billion, after increasing by $7.6 billion in October.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note were unmoved, keeping yields at Friday’s 1.96%.
Oil for February delivery demurred 94 cents to $100.92 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery added 70 cents to $1,617.50 U.S. an ounce.
