Stocks in Toronto started the week off on the wrong foot, as weakness in utility and tech stocks weighed things down Monday.
The TSX sank into the red 66.38 points Monday afternoon to 25,626.42.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.11 cents to 70.57 cents U.S.
The Bank of Canada is expected to cut the interest rate by half a percentage point on Wednesday, marking its second consecutive rate cut of such magnitude.
Bets for a hefty cut jumped after Friday’s data showed a sharp rise in the unemployment rate, with nearly 80% of respondents in a Reuters poll predicting a 50-bps cut on Dec. 11 to 3.25%.
In corporate news, Swedish mining group Boliden agreed to buy Lundin Mining’s Neves-Corvo mine in Portugal and the Zinkgruvan mine in Sweden. Lundin Mining gained four cents to $13.28.
BRP Inc gained $3.04, or 4.2%, to $75.79 as the power sports products company extended its gains from Friday.
Utility stocks proved the biggest anchor on the markets Monday, with Capital Power shedding $4.09, or 5.9%, to $63.80, while Transalta dipped 61 cents, or 3.2%, to $18.49.
Tech stocks were next, with Bitfarms, skidding 22 cents, or 6.5%, to $3.03, while Celestica dropped $5.56, or 4.1%, to $128.71.
In real-estate, Canadian Apartment REIT doffed 80 cents, or 1.8%, to $44.13, while RioCan REIT gave back 22 cents, or 1.1%, to $18.41.
Gold tried to balance things out, with Torex Gold better by $1.72, or 6.1%, to $29.87, while Eldorado Gold forged ahead $1.02, or 4.6%, to $23.44.
In materials, First Majestic Silver surged 54 cents, or 6.3%, to $9.16, while Fortuna Silver Mines captured 51 cents, or 7.7%, to $7.18.
Health-care stocks were also positive, as Bausch Health Companies up 44 cents, or 3.8%, to $11.98, while Tilray gained five cents, or 2.8%, to $1.86.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 4.53 points to 614.75.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative by the closing bell, weighed most by utilities, fainting 1.5%, information technology sliding 0.9%, and real-estate, off 0.8%.
The five gainers were led by gold, up 2.2%, materials, higher 1.9%, and health-care, progressing 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite pulled back from record highs Monday, with tech shares struggling and investors looking ahead to key inflation data due out this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial index tumbled 240.59 points Monday to finish at 44,401.93.
The much-broader index dipped 37.42 points to 6,052.85
The NASDAQ Composite fell 123.08 points to 19,736.69
Nvidia shares dropped about 2.6% on the heels of a Chinese regulator announcing that it’s investigating the artificial intelligence chip darling for potentially violating the country’s antimonopoly law. The stock has been a bellwether for the artificial intelligence trade, up more than 180% in 2024.
Advanced Micro Devices, another chipmaker, closed 5.6% lower after Bank of America downgraded the stock to neutral from buy, with the bank citing its limited market share gain potential as a result of “higher competitive risks in AI against best-of-breed NVDA’s dominance.”
Tech giants Meta Platforms and Netflix also struggled.
The price of bitcoin retreated as well, a sign that investors are moving away from risk-taking. The cryptocurrency topped $100,000 for the first time ever on Wednesday evening last week.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lagged, raising yields to 4.20% from Friday’s 4.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked 91 cents to $68.11 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold jumped $22.10 an ounce to $2,681.70 U.S.