A surge in health-care stocks, particularly the beleaguered Valeant Pharmaceuticals, powered equities in Toronto Monday, after hefty losses Friday to end the month of October.
The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 93.84 points to end the day at 13,623.01
The Canadian dollar settled 0.17 cents at 76.33 cents U.S.
Valeant surged 8.1% to $131.88.
Among energy issues, another winner, Husky Energy shares popped 4.1% to $18.40, while Suncor climbed 0.7% to $39.17.
Also enjoying success was the metals and mining field, led by a 4.4% gain in Potash to $27.55, while First Quantum Minerals moved up 3.7%, to $7.24.
Not faring so well was the consumer staples sector, which saw Restaurant Brands – the parent company of Tim Hortons – lose 2.5% to $51.17.
On the economic calendar, RBC announced that its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index posted 48.0 in October, down from 48.6 in September and below the neutral 50.0 threshold for the third month in a row, signaling a deterioration of business conditions.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased 2.46 points to 539.57
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were positive to end the day, with health-care up 2.7%, energy gushing 1.8%, and the metals and mining stronger by 1.6%
The two dissenters were consumer staples, down 0.5%, and telecoms, off 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher by nearly 1% or more Monday, the first trading day of November, as investors eyed earnings and a heavy week of economic reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average spiked 165.22 points to 17,828.76, turning positive for 2015 in intraday trade as the close approached. Chevron led advancers and Visa the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 climbed 24.26 points to 2,103.62, with energy leading eight sectors higher and telecommunications and utilities the only decliners. The last time the index crossed 2,100 in intraday trade was Aug. 18, and its last close above was on Aug. 17.
The NASDAQ index leaped 70.94 points to 5,124.69
Chevron contributed the most to gains in the Dow, which gained more than 150 points in afternoon trade.
The major averages opened little changed, with the Dow dipping into negative territory as Visa weighed. The stock traded about 3% lower after falling more than 3.5% in morning trade.
The credit card issuer reported earnings that missed on revenue that slightly topped expectations. Visa also announced the purchase of Visa Europe for about $18.2 billion U.S. and authorized a new $5-billion U.S. share repurchase program.
In corporate news, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise began trading as separate companies Monday, following the split of Hewlett-Packard into two.
Ireland-based drug maker Shire said it would buy Dyax for about $5.9 billion U.S.
Earnings season winds down with fewer names reporting this week. AIG and Fitbit are among those posting results after the bell.
In U.S. economic news, October ISM manufacturing was 50.1, slightly beating expectations of 50.0 but posting a fourth-straight monthly decline, Reuters said. Construction spending rose 0.6 percent in September.
The final read on October manufacturing PMI hit a six-month high at 54.1, according to Markit.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were lower, thus raising yields to 2.18% from Friday’s 2.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 47 cents a barrel to $46.12 U.S.
Gold prices slid $7.63 to $1,134.48 U.S. an ounce.
