Canadian shares declined on Monday, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals (TSE:VRX) tumbled after lawmaker scrutiny prompted the nation’s fourth-biggest company by market value to review its strategy, while energy producers and miners fell with the drop of commodities amid slower expansion in China.
The resource-heavy benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) fell 0.5% to 13,766.87 at 12:21 p.m. in Toronto. Seven out of the 10 main groups were in positive territory.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals (TSE:VRX) fell 5.7% to $167.42. The strategic review overshadowed results of Canada’s largest pharmaceutical company that topped estimates.
China’s gross domestic product rose 6.9% in the three months through September, beating economists’ estimates for 6.8%. Still, that was less than the government’s target of 7% for this year.
The TSX's energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, retreated 3.7% as oil, Canada’s largest export, fell on China data.
Canadian Oil Sands (TSE:COS) fell 1.8% to C$9.76 after its board unanimously recommended its shareholders reject a hostile, 4.47bn takeover offer from Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), calling the bid opportunistic and saying it undervalues the company. Suncor slipped 1.4% to C$36.36.
Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ), the country's largest heavy-oil producer, slid 2.1% to C$30.29.
November West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 1%, to $46.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, lost 3% as gold eased with the strength of the dollar.
Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, fell 1.6% to C$19.47. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), Canada’s second-largest gold miner, tumbled 2.3% to C$9.87.
Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,175.40 an ounce, while U.S. December gold futures were down $7.50 an ounce at $1,176.50.
The financials group, which accounts for approximately 36% of the main measure, more than any other group, rose 0.3%.
Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, dropped 0.3% to C$73.79. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, was up 0.1% at $40.61.
The 242-company benchmark gauge has lost 10.4% over the past six months.