Canada's main stock index opened lower on Monday, extending a five-day losing streak, weighed down by material stocks as metals prices fell against a stronger dollar.
The TSX Composite Index descended 83.48 points Monday to start the week at 19,696.49.
The Canadian dollar shed 0.06 cents at 74.13 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 0.75 points to begin Monday and the last week of September at 570.84.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground in the first hour, particularly communications, down 1%, real-estate, skidding 0.8%, and gold was duller in price 0.7%.
The two gainers were health-care, up 0.4%, and industrials, eking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was little changed Monday with the market set to kick off the final week of trading in September with big losses.
The Dow Jones Industrials hurtled lower 76.87 points Monday to 33,886.97.
The S&P 500 retreated 3.1 points to 4,316.96.
The NASDAQ index squeezed ahead 1.4 points to 13,213.21.
The S&P 500 has fallen more than 4% in September, on pace for its second straight losing month and its worst month since December. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite is down 6% in September as growth stocks bore the brunt of the selloff, also headed for its biggest monthly loss since December. The blue-chip Dow is off by a more modest 2% this month.
AstraZeneca shares rose 1.4% after Jefferies upgraded the stock to buy from hold. The upgrade comes after one of its breast cancer therapies, in joint development with Daiichi Sankyo, came out with positive results in a late-stage trial on Friday.
Dow shares rose 1.6% Monday. JPMorgan upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral, citing potential upside from higher oil prices.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury staggered, raising yields to 4.52% from Friday’s 4.43%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 12 cents to $89.91 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices edged ahead a dime to $1,945.70 U.S. an ounce.
