Financials Also Suffer
Equity markets in
Toronto
fell on Monday as a drop in crude oil prices weighed on the resource-linked market.
The S&P/TSX composite index subsided 102.02 points to open Monday and the week at 12,287.56
The Canadian dollar slid 0.31 cents to 70.48 cents
U.S.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said its ailing chief executive, Michael Pearson, said he was on the road to recovery but was uncertain about when he would return from medical leave.
Valeant's former chief financial officer, Howard Schiller, is acting as interim chief executive. Pearson was hospitalized with severe pneumonia in late December.
Valeant shares picked up 46 cents to $125.90.
Canaccord Genuity cut the price target on WSP Global Inc. to $45.00 from $50.00, with a buy rating, after trimming organic growth and margin assumptions in light of ongoing commodity price weakness.
WSP shares faded 26 cents, or 0.7%, to $39.18.
Brookfield Canada Office Properties is out with end-of-year figures today, expecting earnings of $2.82 per share. Brookfield units stumbled eight cents to $25.86.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.71 points to 484.38.
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups lost ground in the first hour of trade, with financials down 1.7%, energy trailing 1.1%, and industrials weaker by 0.7%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by gold, up 3.5%, materials, picking up 0.8%, and metals and mining, up 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S.
stocks traded lower Monday as a renewed decline in oil prices weighed amid some major earnings reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 58.76 points to start out at 16,034.75, with Caterpillar leading decliners and McDonald's the greatest advancer.
The S&P 500 dipped 5.49 points to 1,901.41, with materials leading nine sectors lower and health-care the only gainer.
The NASDAQ index erased eight points to 4,583.18.
Caterpillar declined about 3% in morning trade as the greatest weight on the Dow. Goldman Sachs downgraded the heavy equipment maker's stock to sell from neutral.
McDonald's briefly jumped 2.5% in morning trade to top $121
U.S.
a share and hit a record high in intraday trade. The firm said global same-restaurant sales rose a better-than-expected 5%, helped by the launch of all-day breakfasts in
the United States
and recovering demand in
China
.
U.S.
sales increased 5.7%.
Halliburton reported earnings seven cents above estimates on revenue slightly below forecasts, but the oilfield services giant was able to benefit from cost cuts amid falling oil prices.
D.R. Horton posted earnings that topped expectations, with revenue also above estimates. Sales orders were up 9% from a year earlier, with the value of those orders rising by 12%.
Kimberly-Clark missed slightly on both earnings and revenue, noting impact from unfavorable foreign currency trends. Organic sales did rise by 5%.
Earnings due later this week include Apple, Facebook, Amazon.com and Microsoft.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury grew slightly, lowering yields to 2.04% from Friday's 2.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.08 a barrel to $31.11
U.S.
Gold prices recovered $8.50 to $1,106.45
U.S.
an ounce.
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