Stocks in Toronto held onto gains as long as they could Monday, but gave way toward the closing bell, weighed mostly by health-care weakness.
The TSX Composite sank 41.8 points to end Monday at 21,942.28. Markets will be closed for Good Friday.
The Canadian dollar was better by 0.15 cents to 73.61 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks carried the bulk of the load Monday, with Tilray down 23 cents, or 7.3%, to $2.92, while Chartwell Retirement Residences off five cents to $12.16.
In industrials, GFL Environmental docked $1.04, or 2.2%, to $47.07, while Canadian Pacific lost $2.59, or 2.1%, to $118.93.
Consumer discretionary stocks proved the next down the ladder, as Magna International dropped $1.83, or 2.4%, to $72.29, while BRP inc. fell $1.86, or 2.2%, to $83.41.
In energy stocks, Athabasca Oil climbed 22 cents, or 4.2%, to $5.47, while Vermilion Energy moved ahead 64 cents, or 4%, to $16.50.
Gold had a banner day, with Iamgold ahead 15 cents, or 3.7%, to $4.19, while Lundin Gold advanced 48 cents, or 2.6%, to $18.70.
In consumer staples, Jamieson Wellness took hold of 46 cents, or 1.8%, to $26.65, while George Weston triumphed $1.79 or 1%, to $186.54.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange plummeted 5.41 points, or 1%, to 546.90.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower on the session, as health-care issues subsided 2.4%, industrials off 1.1%, and consumer discretionary issues down 0.8%.
The five gainers were led by energy, up 2%, gold, higher by 0.6%, and consumer staples, improving 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks slipped 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 162.26 points to 39,313.64.
The S&P 500 index dumped 15.99 points to 5,218.19.
The NASDAQ slid 44.35 points to 16,384.47.
Shares of Intel slid 1.7% after The Financial Times reported that new China guidelines would block the company’s chips in government servers and computers. United Airlines stock fell 3.4% after the Federal Aviation Administration said it would be heightening its 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, meanwhile, jumped about 2.9% during the period.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 4.25% from Friday’s 4.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.28 to $81.91 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added 12 dollars to $2,172.00.
