Canada's main stock index dipped marginally on Monday, pulled lower in part by acquisition news from Pembina Pipeline Corp (PPL.TO) and broad declines among mining companies.

News of Pembina's $9.7 billion stock-and-cash deal for Veresen Inc (VSN.TO) sent shares down 3.3 percent to $42.05, while smaller rival, Veresen rose 19.0 percent to $18.13.

The overall energy group retreated 0.2 percent.

At 4 p.m. ET the Canadian dollar traded at 73.14 U.S. cents, up/down 0.12 cents from Friday's market close.

The heavily weighted financials group failed to make headway and remained little changed, as modest gains by Canada's five biggest banks were offset by another tumble in Home Capital Group Inc (HCG.TO: Quote), Canada's biggest non-bank mortgage lender.

Shares slumped 13.4 per cent to $6.96 as depositors pulled more money out of the troubled lender. Last month, regulators accused the company of making "materially misleading statements" to investors.

"Home Capital seems to be in the crosshairs of people who want to short the stock, or short Canada," said Ian Nakamoto, equity specialist at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier, a division of Raymond James.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index dipped 10.5 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 15,575.63. Four of the index's 10 main groups retreated.

"For Canada, it's been a very disappointing market for the last little while," said Nakamoto, noting concerns over oil and the overheated housing sector that was spilling into the financial services sector.

The materials group, home to precious and base metals miners as well as fertilizer companies, lost close to 1.4 per cent. A slew of gold mining firms fell nearly 2 per cent or more, tracking bullion prices that fell 1 per cent to a three-week low.

Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO was the most influential decliner, falling 1.9 per cent to $22.38, while Eldorado Gold Corp (ELD.TO) sank 6.2 per cent to $4.68.

Shaw Communications (SJRb.TO) stock rose 0.3 per cent to $29.02 following news late on Friday that the Canadian cable company is looking for a buyer for its U.S. data center company, ViaWest. The overall consumer discretionary group rose 0.5 per cent.

The information technology group ended 1.4 per cent higher, while healthcare stocks were up just over 1 per cent.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the TSX by 125 to 118, for a 1.06-to-1 ratio on the upside.

The index was posting 22 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows.