TSX Flat Amid Weak Commodities - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks were little changed Monday morning with commodities struggling to move higher even as China vowed to deepen reforms to allow its transition towards a consumption-driven economy. Traders might also prefer to stay cautious ahead of the release of FOMC minutes, due later this week.

Unveiling a raft of reforms, China on Friday announced plans to allow more private investment in the state sector, build a more and impartial and sustainable social security system and let Chinese companies and individuals make investments offshore more easily

Minutes of the FOMC meeting held on October 29 and 30 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday. The minutes are expected to provide more clues on the continuity of the $85 billion asset purchase program.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index edged up 14.95 points or 0.11 percent to 13,497.51, after adding just over 150 points or 1 percent in the past three sessions.

The price of crude oil was moving higher Monday morning despite concerns over demand growth after last week's report from the OPEC and IEA painted a rosy supply outlook. Crude for December added $0.30 to $94.14 a barrel.

In the oil patch, Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) were up nearly 1 percent each.

The price of gold was moving lower Monday morning, with the US dollar holding onto to its recent gains ahead of the release of this week's macroeconomic data. Gold for December slipped $6.90 to $1,280.50 an ounce.

Among gold stocks, Royal Gold (RGL.TO), Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Goldcorp. (G.TO) were down around 2 percent each.

Wood products company Stella-Jones (SJ.TO) edged down 0.10 percent after announcing the acquisition of wood treating facilities in Oregon, Nevada and Arizona from The Pacific Wood Preserving Cos. The purchase price was about $33 million.

Bombardier Inc. (BBD_A.TO, BBD_B.TO) rose over 1 percent after it said its unit has got $282 million dual-class Q400 NextGen aircraft orders from Palma Holding Limited.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said foreign investment in Canadian securities strengthened to $8.4 billion in September and was focused on Canadian equities. Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities in the month by $1.5 billion, including both debt and equity securities.

From the U.S., a report released by the National Association of Home Builders revealed that the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index came in at 54 in November, unchanged from the revised reading for October. Economists had expected the index to come in unchanged compared to the 55 originally reported for the previous month.

Elsewhere, euro area current account surplus declined to a seasonally adjusted EUR 13.7 billion in September from EUR 17.9 billion in August, the European Central Bank reported. Data showed that the surplus on goods trade decreased to EUR 13.7 billion from EUR 14.7 billion in August. Likewise, the surplus on services fell to EUR 7.6 billion in September from EUR 8.2 billion.

Meanwhile, euro zone's foreign trade surplus increased markedly in September, the latest data from the statistical office Eurostat showed. The region's trade in goods with the rest of the world resulted in a surplus of EUR 13.1 billion in September, up from EUR 6.9 billion surplus in August. A year earlier, the surplus amounted to 8.6 billion.