12:23 PM EST, 11/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange is down 45 points at midday with telecoms the biggest decliner.

The telecoms sector is down 2.2%. BCE is down 10% to a multi-year low after it announced the $5 billion acquisition of U.S. internet provider Ziply Fiber. It is also the most actively traded on the TSX, with near 12 million shares changing hands.

Energy and healthcare are the biggest gainers, up 1.2% and 1%, respectively.

Oil was sharply higher early on Monday after OPEC+ again delayed plans to increase production while geopolitical risk heightens as Iran promises fresh attacks on Israel and the U.S. election looms.

Gold edged higher as traders turn cautious with the dollar and yields falling ahead of tomorrow's U.S. presidential election and this week's interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve.

BMO Economics in its morning note, said Canadians will have their eyes south of the border this week as U.S. election day approaches. In the meantime, the TSX is coming off a down week, as the index gave back 0.9% with weakness in energy, utilities and materials.

There are no major data releases on deck today, but there a few things to watch later in the week in Canada. BMO noted we'll get the merchandise trade balance for September on Tuesday, which is expected to weaken to a $1.5 billion deficit. At this point, trade is expected to be about neutral for third quarter growth, BMO said.

Tuesday also brings the Bank of Canada's Summary of Deliberations from the October 23rd meeting, when it announced the 50 bp rate cut. BMO's Benjamin Reitzes noted that Governor Macklem continues to state that we're "not close" to the maximum rate divergence between Canada and the U.S., so markets will be looking for any hints on where the BoC believes that could be. Finally, BMO added, watch for any discussion on the Canadian dollar and potential U.S. election outcomes. Thus far, Macklem has noted that the loonie isn't a factor for policy.

The October employment report rounds out the key data on Friday. BMO is looking for a job gain of 25k in the month, in line with the trend over the past year. It said: "One notable aspect of the past two months of data is despite a continued surge in population growth, labour force growth has been very muted. That pushed the unemployment rate lower last month, and has contained the overall increase. We're anticipating a reversal in October with the jobless rate up a tick to 6.6% amid slightly firmer labour force growth."

Finally, BMO noted, we'll hear from the Bank of Canada a few times as well. Senior Deputy Governor Rogers speaks on Wednesday at 12:25 pm; Deputy Governor Mendes will speak on Thursday at 9:00 am; and Deputy Governor Gravelle will be on a panel in Europe on Friday morning.