Roundup: Canadian stocks edge down on oil retreats

Canada's main stock market in Toronto started the week flatly lower Monday as crude prices sold off after weekend news surfaced that Iran has little intention to cut production.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index lost 44.46 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 13,477.54 points. Six of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors ended lower.

Oil prices dropped Monday as Iran reportedly said that it intended to ramp its production level back up to before the sanction, or 4 million barrels a day.

The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery moved down 1.32 U.S. dollars to settle at 37.18 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery decreased 86 cents to close at 39.53 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Heading the decliners, TSX energy stocks logged a 0.82 percent loss as Pengrowth Energy Corporation shares was down 7.63 percent to 1.21 Canadian dollars (0.91 U.S. dollar). Energy infrastructure company Veresen Inc. was down 7.03 percent to 7.93 Canadian dollars a share as RBC cut the target price on Veresen to 12.0 Canadian dollars from 16.0 dollars.

But on a rare rally, Niko Resources Ltd. jumped 53.57 percent to 0.43 Canadian dollar per share after the Calgary-based energy company announced that it had restructured its loan commitments and delayed its payment obligations by two years.

The uptick came after years of declines, in which shares of Niko -- a one-time analyst favorite and investor darling -- collapsed from over 100 Canadian dollars in 2010 to 6 cents as recently as January.

Metals & Mining companies pointed to a surprise 2.92 percent gain as a group. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was up 8.55 percent to 8.00 Canadian dollars a share, and Canada's largest diversified mining company Teck Resources ticked up 1.53 percent to 9.96 Canadian dollars.

In heath care sector, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. dropped 0.59 percent to 91.58 Canadian dollars as sources said Valeant Pharmaceuticals is under pressure from investors to introduce more transparency into its operations and expand its management ranks to regain credibility in the investment community.

On the economic slate, Canadian home prices rose in February, driven by a surge in the already-strong Vancouver market, data showed on Monday in the latest sign of a growing divide in the country's real estate sectors.

Prices gained 0.6 percent from January, according to data from the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, the largest increase for the month of February since the 2008-09 recession.

Compared to a year ago, prices were up 6.5 percent, making for the largest annual increase since January 2012. The index measures price changes for repeat sales of single-family homes.

Although prices climbed on a monthly basis in six of the 11 metropolitan areas covered in the survey, it was the 3.2 percent jump in Vancouver that lifted the overall index, the report said.

South of the border, U.S. stocks pared early losses to close narrowly mixed Monday, as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15.82 points, or 0.09 percent, to 17,229.13. The S&P 500 fell 2.55 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,019.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 1.81 points, or 0.04 percent, to 4,750.28.

The Fed will kick off its highly-anticipated policy meeting on Tuesday and hold a press conference on Wednesday. Most analysts expect the U.S. central bank will not raise its interest rates at this meeting.

The Canadian dollar was traded lower at 0.7537 U.S. dollar, compared with Friday's closing rate of 0.7558 U.S. dollar. Enditem