TORONTO -- The Toronto stock market was down slightly with lower than usual volumes Monday as major U.S. exchanges in New York CIty cancelled trading for the day as Hurricane Sandy lurched towards the Eastern Seaboard.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 11.1 points to 12,289.19 while the TSX Venture Exchange declined 5.47 points to 1,295.37.
"In many ways, we do take our cues from the U.S. market so certainly it being closed caused Toronto to be somewhat directionless today," said John Stephenson, portfolio manager at First Asset Funds.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar could be headed to its first close below parity with the U.S. currency since early August.
The loonie was down 0.21 of a cent to 99.99 cents US.
The commodity-sensitive Canadian dollar has lost value lately amid growing pessimism about the global economic outlook, which has contributed to falling prices for oil and copper.
The operator of the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext, originally announced late Sunday afternoon trading could carry on through its electronic trading backup even though floor trading would be cancelled due to the storm.
But it said Monday morning that "the dangerous conditions developing as a result of Hurricane Sandy will make it extremely difficult to ensure the safety of our people and communities."
Lower parts of Manhattan around the Financial District are under mandatory evacuation order.
Trading on the NYSE was last closed for an emergency on Sept. 11, 2001, and last closed for a weather related event in 1985, for Hurricane Gloria. The Nasdaq will also close Monday and possibly Tuesday.
CME Group. which operates the New York Mercantile Exchange, halted all electronic and floor-trading activity in equity-index futures and options at 9:15 a.m. Eastern time. All other CME Group futures and futures-options markets will remain open.
The Toronto stock market was already in for a lacklustre showing this week as disappointments over the quarterly earnings season pile up and traders exercise caution ahead of an American election too close to call.
"The sense is that things have been pretty slow these days and people worried and this is another thing to add to the wall of worry that seems to be getting higher all the time," added Stephenson.
"In general, people are looking at Europe as an unresolved mess and no end in sight to that problem. China is weak and of course there is all the uncertainty about the U.S. fiscal cliff and the U.S. election. All of that is weighing on sentiment and there is an absence of positive news."
Defensive stocks provided the TSX with some lift with the utilities sector ahead 0.42 per cent. TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) and Phoenix Energy Holdings Ltd. are forming a partnership to build a $3-billion pipeline project in Northern Alberta. Each of the companies would own half of the Grand Rapids project, which they expect will carry crude oil and diluent for oilsands producers northwest of Fort McMurray, Alta., starting in early 2017. TransCanada shares gained 29 cents to $44.69.
The consumer staples sector was also up as grocer Loblaw Cos. (TSX:L) rose 27 cents to $34.33.
The energy sector was also positive with the December crude contract down 31 cents to US$85.97 a barrel. Cenovus Energy rose 10 ts to $34.58
The Canadian arm of a Malaysian state-owned oil company, Petronas Canada, has extended the deadline for its takeover bid for Progress Energy Resources Corp.(TSX:PRQ) in hopes it will be able to convince Industry Canada to reverse an earlier decision and approve the deal. The deadline had been extended to Nov. 30 from Oct. 31. Progress shares ran up $1.25 to $19.61.
The gold sector was little changed while December bullion was down $4.20 to US$1,707.20 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) edged up 16 cents to $43.89.
The base metals sector led decliners while December copper lost five cents to US$3.50 a pound. Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) gave back seven cents to $5.14.
The financial sector was off 0.3 per cent after concerns about consumer debt and home prices in Canada prompted Moody's Investors Service to place the long-term ratings of six Canadian banks on review Friday for a possible downgrade.
The ratings agency said high levels of consumer debt and high housing prices have left the banks more vulnerable to downside risks to the Canadian economy than in the past.
The agency put Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS), Caisse Centrale Desjardins, CIBC (TSX:CM), National Bank of Canada (TSX:NA) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD) under review. TD was down 44 cents to $80.73.
Royal Bank (TSX:RY), which had already been downgraded by Moody's earlier in the year, was not included on the list. Its stock slipped 31 cents to $56.52.
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (TSX: MDA) was a major gainer on the TSX. It jumped $4.82 or 9.6 per cent to $55 after it said Friday that it has cleared a U.S. antitrust review of its US$875-million takeover bid for California-based Space Systems/Loral Inc. MDA is best-known as the maker of the robotic arms used on the International Space Station and the now-retired U.S. space shuttles.
A number of major U.S. companies have postponed quarterly earnings.
Acorda Therapeutics Inc., Pfizer Inc., Thomson Reuters and NRG Energy Inc. have already delayed earnings reports. Pfizer and NRG Energy made the decision early, as they were not set to report earnings until Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
European markets were lower with London's FTSE 100 index lost 0.16 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX dropped 0.39 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.73 per cent.
