The resource-heavy S&P/TSX composite index has tracked emerging-market equities rather closely over the past decade.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
The Toronto stock market fell into the red Monday as it reversed its positive open and equities continued to add to a steep decline from this month.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 22.02 points to 14,446.24, pushed down by lower energy and metals stocks
The Canadian dollar was down 0.08 of a cent to 86.07 cents (U.S.).
Toronto and New York markets had soared last week, with the TSX gaining 736 points or 5.36 per cent to close at 14,468.26 while the Dow Jones industrials bounded ahead 524 points or three per cent.
By Monday, U.S. indexes were still higher, with the Dow Jones gaining 81.84 points to 17,886.64. The Nasdaq jumped 7.21 points to 4,772.59 and the S&P 500 index added 1.79 points to 2,072.44.
Buying sentiment on Wall Street got a big lift last week after the U.S. Federal Reserve said that it will be "patient" in deciding when to hike interest rates. Short-term rates have been near zero since the 2008 financial collapse and have helped aid in the recovery of stock markets. Investors have come around to accepting that the central bank will move to start hiking rates next year, likely around the middle of 2015.
In other economic news, Canada and the United States issue reports on gross domestic product on Tuesday. Estimates suggest the Canadian economic growth slowed in October, with advancing 0.1 per cent compared with September's growth of 0.4 per cent, month-over-month.
Traders are facing a much shorter trading week with Toronto and New York closing at 1 p.m. on Wednesday for Christmas Eve. Toronto will be closed until Monday while New York reopens Friday.
On the commodity markets, the January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 88 cents to $56.25 (U.S.) a barrel despite reassurances from Saudi Arabia that the oil market will recover from its current low levels.
In a speech at an energy summit in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Saudi Petroleum Minister Ali Naimi also denied his government was trying to suppress oil prices.
Oil hit $107 a barrel in June, but has plunged nearly 50 per cent since then due to low demand, especially after Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to maintain production levels.
Crude prices seemed stabilize last week, suggesting that they may have found their bottom.
The energy sector was the biggest decliner on the TSX early Monday, down 2.66 per cent, followed by metals and mining stocks, which were 1.35 per cent lower.
Meanwhile, February bullion was up 70 cents at $1,196.7 an ounce, while March copper is up one cent at $2.90 a pound.
In corporate news, Maple Leaf Foods said one of the three plants previously identified for closure will be shut down permanently on Dec. 31. The other two will close by the end of March.
The company's plant on Panet Road in Winnipeg will be the sixth closure under a multi-year reorganization of the Toronto-based food giant's operations. It employs about 30 people. Some will transfer to another Winnipeg plant that has been expanded or to other Maple Leaf operations while some have opted to retire or leave the company.
The remaining two of eight previously announced closures, in Kitchener, Ont., and Toronto, will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2015. Maple Leaf shares rose 10 cents to $19.10 (Canadian).