Stocks in Canada’s largest centre stumbled at the open Monday, as oil prices slumped on a surge in coronavirus cases in the U.S. and Europe threatening fuel demand, while Libya’s fast growing output also weighed on prices.
The TSX shed 114.54 points to open Monday at 16,189.54.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.13 cents at 75.92 cents U.S.
Cenovus Energy has agreed to buy rival Husky Energy Inc in an all-stock deal valued at $3.8 billion to create Canada’s number-three oil and gas producer, as a pandemic-driven collapse in demand forces the industry to consolidate. Credit Suisse cut the rating on Cenovus to neutral from outperform.
Cenovus shares doffed 63 cents, or 12.8%, to $4.25.
CIBC raised the rating on Neo Performance Materials to outperform from neutral. Neo shares were static at $12.05.
JP Morgan raised the rating on Rogers Communications target price to $63.00 from $61.00. Shares in the cable giant lost 46 cents to $57.46.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange loosed 1.06 points to 717.09 in the first hour of the trading week.
All 12 TSX subgroups were negative, as energy plummeted 3%, while consumer discretionary and industrial stocks each let go of 1.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Monday as coronavirus infections jumped and negotiations for a fiscal stimulus package before the election came down to the wire.
The Dow Jones Industrials slid 430.83 points, or 1.5%, to 27,904.74
The S&P 500 moved south 37.68 points, or 1.1%, to 3,428.23.
The NASDAQ removed 37.72 points to 11,189.54.
This week marks the last week of October and the final trading period before Nov. 3. Major averages are on track for modest gains for the month, with the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ both rising more than 3% so far. The 30-stock Dow is up about 2% this month.
The decline came amid a record surge in new coronavirus cases in the U.S. The country saw more than 83,000 new infections on both Friday and Saturday after outbreaks in Sun Belt states, surpassing a previous record of roughly 77,300 cases set in July, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The data also showed the country has reported an average of 68,767 cases per day over the past seven days, a record.
Stocks with the most to lose from rising cases and a stalled stimulus plan led the decline Monday. Royal Caribbean shares fell 5.7%. Delta fell 2.8%.
Tech stocks were also under pressure after SAP, one of the biggest software companies in Europe, saw its shares plunge more than 20%. The company warned that businesses are holding back from spending; it also cut its earnings and revenue estimates for 2020.
Microsoft shares dipped 0.8%. Oracle stock was down by 3.3%.
Former Vice President Joe Biden maintains a sizable lead over President Donald Trump in national polls, although the gap has narrowed slightly as of late.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 0.81% from Friday’s 0.84%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked $1.01 at $38.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices acquired 90 cents to $1,906.10