The Toronto stock market closed lower Monday, weighed down in part by energy stocks after Ottawa rejected a planned takeover in the sector.
Traders also took in mixed U.S. earnings news, lower commodities and a major acquisition in the Russian energy sector.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved down 12.44 points to 12,403.54 after the federal government on Friday rejected a Malaysian state-owned energy giant's proposed takeover bid for Calgary-based natural gas producer Progress Energy Resources Corp. Progress shares lost $2.01, or 9.3%, to $19.64.
Petronas had offered $6-billion for Progress, but Industry Minister Christian Paradis said he was "not satisfied that the proposed investment is likely to be of net benefit to Canada."
The thumbs down from Ottawa affeced share prices of other resource companies. For example, Paramount Resources Ltd. fell 27¢ to $33.73.
The move also was seen as putting at risk a deal by China's CNOOC Ltd. to acquire Nexen Inc. Nexen shares dropped $1.11 to $24.04 .
"Everybody anticipated there might be a rejection for Nexen because it's China and the state-owned oil company and the technology transfer and the rest of it," said Gavin Graham, president of Graham Investment Strategy.
"But Progress is absolutely straightforward; it's a state-owned oil company for a western-supporting democracy with no technology transfer, so why on Earth would there be any issues about net benefit? So it was a complete surprise."
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 7.21 points to 1,308.43.
The Canadian dollar was up US0.06¢ to US100.75¢.
U.S. indexes were mainly flat.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 2.38 points to 13,345.89, the Nasdaq composite index ran up 11.34 points to 3,016.96 while the S&P 500 index was up 0.62 of a point to 1,433.81.
Caterpillar's third-quarter profit rose 49% to US$1.7-billion, or US$2.54 a share, higher than the US$2.21 a share analysts had expected. Its stock shook off early losses to move up US$1.22 to US$85.08 as the company said it now expects 2012 earnings of US$9 to US$9.25 a share, below its earlier estimate of about US$9.60 a share. Revenue for 2012 is estimated at US$66billion, below its earlier range of US$68billion to US$70-billion amid weaker than expected global economic conditions.
Shares of Vancouver-based Finning International Inc., which sells, finances and services Caterpillar equipment, edged down 23¢ to $23.85.
