The Canadian stock market is pulling back in early trade Monday, extending its losses from the previous session. The market came under pressure at the end of the previous trading week, due to weakness in commodity prices, especially gold. That weakness continues at the start of the new trading week, with gold prices sinking to a 5-year low. Platinum prices have also dropped to a 5-year low.
Markets in Europe are holding onto modest gains Monday. Greek worries have subsided with the banks in the debt-ridden country opening partially after a three-week closure. Capital controls remain in place, but Greeks can now withdraw up to 420 euros a week as opposed to the previous withdrawal limit of 60 euros per day.
The IMF also announced that Greece has repaid the roughly 2 billion euros that it owed. After making this payment, Greece is no longer in arrears to the IMF.
Markets in the United States have slipped into negative territory and are trading with very slight losses. There has been no U.S. economic data to drive the direction of trading this morning. There had been early buying interest after better than expected earnings reports from companies like Morgan Stanley and Hasbro.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 118.48 points or 0.81 percent at 14,524.36.
On Friday, the index closed down 88.24 points or 0.60 percent, at 14,642.84. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,738.30 and a low of 14,597.56.
The Gold Index is sinking by 7.35percent. Gold prices continued to plunge Monday morning, extending five-year lows amid speculation the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by year's end.
Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is declining by 9.04 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is decreasing by 7.64 percent. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is weakening by 3.50 percent and Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is surrendering 7.12 percent. B2Gold (BTO.TO) is losing 9.88 percent and Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is decreasing by 2.73 percent. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is also lower by 8.94 percent.
The Capped Materials Index is also down 4.15 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is falling by 7.73 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is lower by 6.71 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is declining by 5.01 percent and Agrium (AGU.TO) is losing 1.83 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is weakening by 1.63 percent.
The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is declining by 2.54 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is decreasing by 1.48 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is losing 7.14 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is falling by 3.64 percent and Sherritt International (S.TO) is weakening by 0.94 percent. Teck Resources (TCK-A.TO) is also down 0.40 percent.
The Energy Index is decreasing by 1.49 percent. Crude oil prices were slightly lower Monday morning, unable to trim steep recent losses as the dollar remained firm against major rivals.
Encana (ECA.TO) is falling by 2.83 percent and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is down 1.32 percent. Cenovous Energy (CVE.TO) is declining by 1.65 percent and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is lower by 0.87 percent. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is losing 1.40 percent and Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) is dropping by 1.23 percent. Pacific Rubiales Energy (PRE.TO) is surrendering 2.30 percent and Enbridge (ENB.TO) is weakening by 0.91 percent.
The heavyweight Financial Index is falling by 0.27 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is dropping by 0.23 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is declining by 0.09 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is losing 1.00 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is falling by 0.19 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is down 0.34 percent.
Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is decreasing by 0.50 percent. The company announced that it is partnering with e8ight Business Services Inc.
The Capped Industrials Index is up 0.34 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is higher by 0.92 percent and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is gaining 0.37 percent. Bombardier (BBD-A.TO) is higher by 0.50 percent and CAE (CAE.TO) is rising by 0.88 percent.
Wi-Lan (WIN.TO) is declining by 1.79 percent. The company announced that its Surgical Irrigation Technologies subsidiary has acquired a portfolio of patented medical technologies relating to surgical ablation and irrigation systems.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada announced Monday morning that Canadian wholesale trade decreased by 1.0 percent to $54.5 billion in May, following two consecutive increases. Economists had been expecting a flat reading.
Eurozone current account surplus declined in May largely due to a fall in primary income, the European Central Bank said Monday. The current account surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted EUR 18 billion from EUR 24 billion in April.
Germany's producer prices declined as expected in June, figures from Destatis showed Monday. Producer prices fell 1.4 percent year-over-year in June, in line with expectations, slightly faster than prior month's 1.3 percent decline. Producer prices have been falling since August 2013.
The average asking price for a house in the United Kingdom was up 0.1 percent on month in July, property tracking website Rightmove said on Monday - coming in at 294,542 pounds. That follows the 3.0 percent jump in June, which was a record high for one month.
In commodities, crude oil futures for August delivery are down $0.64 or 1.26 percent at $50.25 a barrel.
Natural gas for August is down 0.065 or 2.26 percent at $2.805 per million btu.
Gold futures for August are down $28.30 or 2.50 percent at $1,103.60 an ounce.
Silver for September is down $0.089 or 0.60 percent at $14.745 an ounce.
Platinum for October is down 18.20 of 1.82 percent at $983.10 an ounce.
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