The Toronto stock market closed lower Monday as buyers wait to see whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will come up with another jolt of stimulus later this week that could revive a flagging economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 52.58 points to 12,215.43 as investors nibbled on profits from last week's 2.66% gain, while the TSX Venture-Exchange was off six points to 1,270.71.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.07 of a cent to a one-year high of US102.3¢ as copper prices added to Friday's sharp run-up.
The loonie was also supported by the hawkish stance of the Bank of Canada. The central bank left its key rate unchanged at 1% last week and repeated language indicating rates will likely rise in the future.
U.S. markets were also lower after jobs data last week missed modest expectations, raising expectations the Fed will announce on Thursday another round of bond buying, known as quantitative easing, to lower interest rates and boost loan growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 52.35 points to 13,254.29 while the Nasdaq composite index fell 32.4 points to 3,104.02. The S&P 500 index slipped 8.84 points to 1,429.08.
The Federal Reserve says total borrowing dipped US$3.3 billion in July from June to a seasonally adjusted $2.705-trillion.
Traders were also cautious as data re-leased Monday showed that China's economic slump is worsening. Imports declined 2.6% from a year earlier, below analysts' expectations of growth in low single digits.
Analysts expect Chinese growth fell to a three-year low of 7.6% in the latest quarter.
Gold stocks led TSX decliners as bullion pulled back $8.70 to US$1,731.80 an ounce.
Iamgold Inc. faded 32¢ to C$13.46 while Goldcorp Inc. gave back 85¢ to $41.21.
The base metals segment lost early gains to slip 0.46%. The December contract in New York was ahead 5¢ to US$3.69 a pound, adding to a 13-cent jump on Friday.
Sherritt International rose 24¢ to C$4.68 while Thompson Creek Metals Co. fell 16¢ to $3.07.
The October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 12¢ to US$96.54 a barrel. Cenovus Energy dropped 27¢ to C$33.95.
Talisman Energy Inc. shares ran up 22¢ to $14.09 as the company said John Manzoni has agreed to step down as president and chief executive. He's being replaced by Hal Kvisle, a former CEO of TransCanada Corp.
The telecom sector was the best advancer, up 0.49% with Telus Corp. ahead 56¢ to $62.32. BCE was up 12¢ to $44.26 as it said it will launch a made-in-Canada competitor to Netflix, available in French and English.
