Canada’s main stock index opened flat on Monday, at the beginning of a holiday-shortened week, as investors exercised caution ahead of a key inflation report out of the United States due later in the week.
The TSX Composite gathered 54.53 points to open a short week at 22,038.61. Markets will be closed for Good Friday.
The Canadian dollar forged ahead 0.19 cents to 73.60 cents U.S.
Among company news, Scotiabank downgraded telecom firm Telus Corp to “sector perform” from “sector outperform.” TELUS shares began Monday down 38 cents, or 1.8%, to $21.38.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shaved off 0.47 points to 551.84.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher early on, as gold sprinted 1.9%, while energy and materials each claimed 1.2%.
The five laggards were weighed most by communications, swooning 0.7%, while industrials dipped 0.6%, and health-care declined 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were slightly lower Monday to start a shortened trading week as the rally that brought Wall Street to record levels took a breather.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 115.01 points to 39,360.89.
The S&P 500 index staggered 10.01 points to 5,224.17.
The NASDAQ subtracted 26.58 points to 16,402.74.
Shares of Intel led the market lower, with the semiconductor firm sliding 3% after The Financial Times reported that new China guidelines would block Intel chips in government servers and computers. United Airlines stock fell 6% after the Federal Aviation Administration said it would be heightening scrutiny of the airline after a series of safety incidents.
The market is on track for its fifth consecutive month of gains, with the major U.S. stock benchmarks crossing new all-time closing high levels last week. The S&P 500 added roughly 2.3% last week, while the Dow gained just under 2% for its best week since December, nearing the 40,000 level. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, jumped about 2.9% during the period.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 4.24% at Friday’s 4.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices pumped $1.37 higher to $82.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices soared $17.40 to $2,177.40.