The Toronto Stock Exchange was down for a second straight day Monday as gold stocks declined as prices for such companies' main product fell to an eight-week low.
At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was down about 85 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 11,485. Materials was the most troublesome sector, while financials and energy were also down.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold was down $6.50 to $1,181.70 U.S. an ounce, earlier going as low as $1,178.30 U.S.. Crude oil was down 54 cents to $76.55 U.S. a barrel.
The Canada dollar was down nine basis points to 94.73 cents U.S. at midday. This comes ahead of Tuesday's decision on interest rates from the Bank of Canada. Most economists expect a quarter-point hike, equal to last month's adjustment, to put the key rate at 0.75 per cent.
U.S. stocks were up slightly as optimism derived from the earnings of firms such as Hasbro Inc. and Haliburton Co. were somewhat offset by the National Association of Home Builders confidence index hitting its lowest level in more than a year.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up about 25 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 10,125. The Nasdaq composite index was ahead by around five points, or 0.3 per cent, to 2,185.
The main European and Asian markets were negative.
