The Toronto stock market was lower late morning Monday amid positive economic news from China and the U.S., along with major deal making in the industrial and mining sectors.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved down 18.49 points to 15,090.48.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.14 of a cent to 93.15 cents (U.S.).
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U.S. indexes were tepid amid strong U.S. home sales and manufacturing figures.
The Dow Jones industrials declined 27.07 points to 16,920.01 and the Nasdaq was down 4.4 points to 4,363.63.
The S&P 500 index slipped 1.75 points to 1,961.12 as the Markit Economics flash manufacturing purchasing managers index for the U.S. edged higher in June, rising to 57.5 from 56.4 in May. The index is at its highest level since May 2010.
Also, sales of U.S. existing homes jumped 4.9 per cent in May in the best monthly gain in nearly three years. Sales increased 4.9 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million homes.
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Meanwhile, data released Sunday showed the Chinese manufacturing sector moving into expansion territory. HSBC's purchasing managers index hit a seven-month high at 50.8, the first time the index has moved above the 50 level since December.
"What you're seeing in the data is that China has been adding some small but important stimulus to their economy," said Colum Mckinley, vice-president Canadian Equities at CIBC Global Asset Management.
"And so I think it's another indication of broadly (around the globe) that we continue to see improvements and potentially an acceleration of economic growth."
Consumer discretionary stocks were the leading TSX decliners as Quebecor lost 60 cents to $26.10.
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The gold sector built on last week's strong runup of over five per cent. The group rose 1.35 per cent even as bullion prices backed off slightly after running ahead last week amid tensions between Ukraine and Russia and a growing insurgency in Iraq. August gold dipped 40 cents to $1,316.20 (U.S.) an ounce.
The tech sector was also supportive, up 0.8 per cent with BlackBerry continuing to benefit from last week's well-received quarterly earnings report, up 30 cents to $10.81 (Canadian).
The base metals sector was ahead 0.4 per cent while the Chinese data helped push July copper up three cents to $3.15 (U.S.) a pound.
The energy sector was up 0.1 per cent while oil prices declined after rising steadily over the last two weeks as a Sunni uprising gained momentum in Iraq.
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"There are some incredibly unfortunate events unfolding across the world and we're seeing a risk premium be placed on certain commodities and oil is certainly one of them that we're seeing," added Mckinley.
The August contract was off 56 cents to $106.27 a barrel.
On the corporate front, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is acquiring U.K.-based Kentz Corp. Ltd., a global engineering firm that provides services to the oil and gas sector in a deal worth $2.1-billion (Canadian). SNC shares rose $1.07 to $54.47.
HudBay Minerals Inc. is buying Augusta Resource Corporation in a friendly takeover deal worth $555-million (Canadian). HudBay was down 20 cents to $10.09 while Augusta ran ahead 25 cents to $3.45.
And in the U.S., software maker Oracle is buying Micros Systems Inc., which provides software and hardware to the hospitality and retail industries, for about $5.3-billion (U.S.).