The Toronto stock market closed slightly lower Monday with traders not wanting to make big commitments ahead of a U.S. election that is deemed too close to call.
Energy and financial stocks led the way as the S&P/TSX composite index declined 27.63 points to 12,352.78, while the TSX Venture Exchange slipped 8.10 points to 1,301.93.
The Canadian dollar closed down 0.11¢ to US100.33¢ amid data showing a sharp drop in building permits issued in September. Statistics Canada reported the value of permits fell 13.2% to $6.5 billion. The decline was mainly due to a 30.8% drop in the non-residential sector.
U.S. indexes racked up minor gains as traders also took in a worse than expected reading on the American service sector.
The Institute for Supply Management said its gauge of non-manufacturing activity declined to 54.2 in October from 55.1 in September, lower than the 54.5 reading that economists expected. The Dow industrials climbed 19.28 points to 13,112.44.
The Nasdaq composite index was 17.53 points higher at 2,999.66 and the S&P 500 index advanced 3.06 points to 1,417.26.
Tuesday's election appears to be going down to the wire, though most opinion polls indicate that President Barack Obama may have the edge over Mitt Romney in crucial swing states.
After the election, attention will turn to dealing with the looming fiscal cliff facing the U.S. economy.
The "fiscal cliff" refers to a variety of tax hikes and massive budget reductions that will come into effect at the end of December unless Republicans and Democrats can come together with an alternative budget plan.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde recently warned that Canada would not escape the fallout from that. "There needs to be some resolution, this is a perfect first issue to tackle," said Paul Vaillancourt, chief executive officer at Canadian Wealth Management in Calgary.
"It's a daunting one but whether it's Romney moving more toward the centre or Obama needing to find bipartisan co-operation, this is the first issue to tackle and I have confidence that either party, either president will tackle. We have all seen the projections and they could be disastrous if there is a stalemate."
The energy sector declined 0.32% with the December crude contract up 79¢ at US$85.65 a barrel. Suncor Energy was down 21¢ to $34.44.
The market was also weighed down by a 0.27% decline in the financial group. National Bank shed 40¢ to $77. Consumer staples stocks were also weak with grocer Loblaw Cos. down 38¢ to $34.04.
