World Economy

Toronto’s main stock index declined Monday, as debt-driven fears on both sides of the Atlantic pushed investors out of riskier equity markets in favor of such safe havens as gold.

“Concerns in the U.S. and Europe are weighing on Canada, too. With commodity markets and oil down, there’s less confidence with the pace of recovery,” said Royal Bank of Canada economist Nathan Janzen.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index CA:$ISPTX -0.34% lost 72 points, or 0.5%, to 13,228.30.

The S&P/TSX Capped Materials Index XX:TTMT +1.20%tempered the broader losses, climbing 1.2% as gold futures GC1Q +1.01% breached $1,600 an ounce for the first time to close at $1,602.40 an ounce. Shares of Barrick Gold Corp. CA:ABX +2.00% ABX +0.04% , Canada’s largest gold producer, tacked on 2.3%.Read more about gold’s rally to new record high.

The S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index XX:TTEN -0.33% lost 0.6% as oil futures CL1Q -1.24% lost 1.8% and shares of Suncor Energy Inc. CA:SU -1.21% fell 1.4%.Read more on trading in crude oil.

“Often if you get a big movement in oil prices it will be reflected in the Composite Index,” Janzen said. The Energy Index makes up approximately 30% of the Composite Index.

The S&P/TSX Capped Industrials Index XX:TTIN -1.29% fell 1.4% as data showed the number of new vehicles sold in Canada in May declined 6.1% to 126,000. According to Statistics Canada, North American-built passenger cars accounted for most of the decrease.

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Gold hits $1,600-an-ounce record

Another century mark falls for the yellow metal. (Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann/Files.)

The S&P/TSX Capped Financials IndexXX:TTFS -1.42% shed 1.6%, while shares of Bank of Nova Scotia CA:BNS -1.81% fell 1.9%.

The S&P/TSX Capped Information Technology Index XX:TTTK -0.75% lost 1% as shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. CA:RIM -2.44% RIMM +2.67%lost 2.6%. Research In Motion makes up nearly one-half of the Information Technology Index.

In currencies, the Canadian dollar weakened, with the U.S. dollar USDCAD +0.45% up roughly 0.6% to buy 96.02 Canadian cents. Read more on currencies.