TSX falls weighed by inflation concerns

Canada's main stock index fell on Monday, tracking Wall Street, pressured by worries over a spike in inflation after commodity prices jumped on vaccine-led recovery hopes.

US crude and Brent crude prices rose around 2%, while Spot Gold gained 1.37%.

That helped the energy sector and the materials sector, climb 2.1% and 1.3%, respectively.

At 9:42 a.m. ET (14:42 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 31.43 points, or 0.17%, at 18,352.84.

Sentiment was weighed by global stocks falling after a raft of stimulus and inoculation measures fueled a surge in commodity prices and sparked concerns around the prospects of rising inflation.

Locally, Just Energy tumbled 25% after the electricity and gas provider forecast a $250 million loss from the impact of winter storms sweeping across Texas and warned of its ability to continue as a going concern.

On the TSX, 101 issues were higher, while 114 issues declined for a 1.13-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 19.72 million shares traded.

Drugmaker Cronos Group Inc fell 3.3%, the most on the TSX, and the second biggest decliner was Ballard Power Systems Inc, down 3.1%.

The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Enerplus Corp , which jumped 6.2%, after multiple brokerages raised their price targets on the oil and gas company.

MEG Energy Corp followed closely behind with a 5.6% rise after RBC upgraded shares of the energy company.

The most heavily traded shares by volume were Nevada Copper Corp and Zenabis Global Inc.

The TSX posted 10 new 52-week highs and no new lows.

Across all Canadian issues there were 46 new 52-week highs and 12 new lows, with total volume of 67.44 million shares.