Stocks Slide At BoC Rate Hike Hint -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks tumbled Monday, giving back strong early gains amid geopolitical concerns and the latest warning on the domestic housing bubble.

"The uptick in Vancouver home sales is nothing more than a head fake, while the worsening sales slump in Toronto's much larger housing market points to a correction in prices," Capital Economics said in a report.

David Madani, senior Canadian economist at Capital Economics, told Business News Network: "I see a correction between 20-40 per cent in the Canadian housing market in five years."

At the same time, a top official from the Bank of Canada signaled they are about to raise interest rates.

"As growth continues and, ideally, broadens further, Governing Council will be assessing whether all of the considerable monetary policy stimulus presently in place is still required," Carolyn Wilkins said in Winnipeg, Manitoba. "At present, there is significant monetary policy stimulus in the system."

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 89.41 points to 15,383.80.

Tech stocks were routed as Apple (AAPL) suffered another downgrade, while financials weakened amid speculation the U.S. will raise interest rates later this week.

Gains in the heavyweight energy sector prevented a more significant retreat.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted unanimously to allow Boeing's antidumping complaint against Bombardier (BBD.B.TO), whose shares were up 3 percent.