Canadian Stocks Sluggish Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are quite sluggish on Monday morning, with investors, back from a long weekend, choosing to tread cautiously ahead of a slew of economic data and earnings reports due this week. Concerns about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine also appear to be prompting invesotrs to stay on the sidelines.

While weaker bullion prices are hurting gold stocks a bit, crude oil's recovery from lower levels is triggering some buying in the energy space.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 4.28 points or 0.03 percent at 14,504.67, edging up from a low of 14,483.54.

On Thursday, the index ended up 53.87 points or 0.37 percent at 14,500.39, after scaling an intraday high of 14,508.54, its best in almost six years.

Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) and Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM), the world's largest gold mining companies, were reportedly in advanced talks about a merger as they grapple with a sharp drop in the price of gold. The two companies had planned to announce a deal as early as Tuesday. Although talks broke down, it could possibly be revived, the reports suggest.

The two companies have neighboring operations in Nevada, the source of about 60 percent of Barrick's production, and operations in proximity in both Peru and Australia. Shares of Barrick Gold Corporation are down 1.2 percent.

Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO) is up nearly a percent. Last Thursday, the company exercised its option to divest its 40 percent interest in the Dover Commercial Project to Phoenix Energy Holdings Ltd for about C$1.23 billion in cash, net of closing adjustments.

OceanaGold Corp. (OGC.TO) has announced that it is continuously monitoring the failed wall at Macraes Open Pit. It said that the access to the underground mine was cut off, although the underground mine itself was unaffected. The stock is up 0.5 percent.

TransCanda Corporation (TRP.TO) shares are down nearly 3.5 percent. The company has stated that it is extremely disappointed and frustrated at the delay with regard to permitting process delay for Keystone XL. The company has also announced that it will hold a teleconference and webcast on Friday to discuss its first quarter 2014 financial results.

Alderon Iron Ore Corp. (ADV.TO) and Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B.TO) are modestly higher ahead of results.

Among the big six banks, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) are modestly higher, while the others are almost unchanged from last closing levels.

Industrial stock Ballard Power Systems (BLD.TO) is gaining over 3.5 percent.

In the energy sector, Surge Energy Inc. (SGY.TO) is up 2.6 percent and DeeThree Exploration (DTX.TO) is adding 3.5 percent.

Bellatrix Exploration (BXE.TO), Imperial Oil Limited (IMO.TO), Canadian Oil Sands Limited (COS.TO), Crew Energy Inc. (CR.TO), Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO), ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX.TO) and Kelt Exploration (KEL.TO) are up 0.8 to 2 percent.

Meanwhile, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO), Encana Corporation (ECA.TO) and Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM.TO) are down 0.4 to 0.8 percent.

In the diversified metals space, Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO), Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (TRQ.TO) and HudBay Minerals Inc. (HBM.TO) are down 1.2 to 2 percent. Meanwhile, Capstone Mining Corp. (CS.TO) and Major Drilling Group International Inc. (MDI.TO) are up in positive territory, gaining 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

In commodities, crude oil futures are lower in morning trades, despite lingering concerns about the ongoing unrest in Ukraine.

Crude futures for May delivery are up $0.15 or 0.15 percent at $103.52 a barrel, coming off the day's low of $102.97 a barrel.

Natural Gas is up $0.002 or 0.03 percent at $4.756 per million btu.

Gold futures for June are down $7.30 or 0.56 percent at $1,286.60 an ounce.

Silver for May is down $0.222 or 1.1 percent at $19.372 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper is down marginally at $3.043 per pound.

In the currency market, the Candian loonie is trading at 1.1025 against the U.S. dollar, down marginally from previous close.

In economic news from Canada, data on wholesale and retail sales for February will be out on Tueday and Wednesday, respectively.

In economic news from the U.S., leading economic indicators showed continued improvement in the month of March, with the Conference Board's leading economic index rising by a more than expected 0.8 percent, following a 0.5 percent increase in February.