Canada's main stock index inched forward Monday, while major indices south of the border fell slightly during a relatively flat day for the markets.
"The real headliner was the data we got out of China," said Craig Fehr, a Canadian markets strategist for Edward Jones.
China reported that its exports fell last month. Chinese exports to America fell 3.5 per cent to US$40.3 billion in December compared to the same month the previous year. Meanwhile, imports of American goods rose 0.7 per cent from 2017 to 2018.
Those figures are consistent with concerns around China contributing to a global slowdown and worries around the impacts of ongoing trade tensions between the two countries, said Fehr.
On a positive note, he said, the markets didn't fall sharply, indicating some bad news is already priced into the markets, unlike several months ago when the markets treated such news much more severely.
Those two forces counterbalanced each other to provide for a relatively flat market to start the week, he said.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 36.35 points to 14,975.53.
That rise came in response to news of more consolidation in the mining industry, Fehr said.
Newmont Mining Corp. announced a US$10-billion deal to take over Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc. and form a company named Newmont Goldcorp. that will target annual production between six and seven million ounces.
The news provided a bit of a lift to gold prices, as well. The February gold contract advanced US$1.80 to US$1,291.30 an ounce.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 86.11 points to 23,909.84. The S&P 500 index retreated 13.65 points to 2,582.61, while the Nasdaq composite fell 65.56 points to 6,905.92.
The Canadian dollar averaged 75.36 cents US compared with an average of 75.42 cents US on Friday.
Elsewhere in commodities, the February crude contract fell US$1.08 to US$50.51 per barrel, the February natural gas contract rose 49.2 cents to US$3.59 per mmBTU and the March copper contract retreated 2.7 cents to roughly US$2.64 a pound.
-- With files from the Associated Press
