Markets in Canada’s biggest centre edged higher on Monday, helped by gains for Toronto-Dominion Bank after the bank and TD Ameritrade said they are purchasing Scottrade Financial Services, offsetting losses for energy companies as oil fell.
The S&P/TSX Composite forged ahead 17.03 points to begin trading Monday at 14,956.07
The Canadian dollar fell off 0.06 cents to 74.91 cents U.S.
TD Ameritrade Holding Corp and Toronto-Dominion Bank would buy privately held Scottrade Financial Services Inc in a deal valued at $4 billion U.S.
TD shares gathered 31 cents to $60.31.
Restaurant Brands International Inc., the owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons, reported a 5.5% rise in sales helped by new menu items and higher demand in the Asia Pacific and Latin American markets.
The company's net profit attributable to shareholders rose to $86.3 million, or 36 cents per share, from $49.6 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier. The Oakville, Ontario-based company's total revenue rose to $1.08 billion from $1.02 billion.
Restraurant Brands shares dipped $1.37, or 2.2%, to $61.24.
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on Lundin Mining to $6.50 from $7.50, to reflect uncertainty surrounding the company’s sale of Tenke.
Lundin shares fell four cents to $5.14.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Teck Resources to $28.0 from $19.50, saying the company has been the sole beneficiary of the recent run-up in metallurgical coal prices.
Teck shares advanced 32 cents, or 1.2%, to $27.63.
West Fraser Timber is out with third-quarter earnings Monday, expecting 97 cents per share.
West Fraser gained 67 cents, or 1.7%, to $40.35.
The European Union has given Belgium until late on Monday to overcome opposition to a free trade deal with Canada from its French-speaking region or a summit to sign the pact that could boost both economies is off.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales advanced 0.8% to $56.8 billion in August, a fifth consecutive gain. Five of the seven sub-sectors, representing 80% of total wholesale
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched higher 1.83 points to 792.40
Six of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher to begin the week’s trading, with information technology soaring 0.6%, consumer staples better by 0.3%, and utilities 0.2% to the good.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by health-care, sliding 0.7%, gold, off 0.5%, and materials, slumping 0.3%. Real-estate stocks were flat at the outset.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks kicked off the week on the right foot, trading higher on Monday after a slew of corporate news.
The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 81.77 to start Monday at 18,227.48, with 3M and Boeing contributing most gains
The S&P 500 gained 9.97 points to 2,151.10, with real estate and information technology leading advancers
The NASDAQ composite index gained 44.6 points to 5,302
AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner on Saturday for more than $85 billion U.S., or $107.50 per share. The combination brings Time Warner full circle back to the heady days of the first Dotcom bubble, when it created a merger of equals with AOL— which failed spectacularly in achieving its goals and resulted in an eventual breakup.
TD Ameritrade also announced it's buying Scottrade for $4 billion U.S. in a two-step deal with TD Bank. TD Ameritrade said said it would end up paying $2.7 billion U.S. for Scottrade's brokerage business after the sale of Scottrade Bank to Toronto-Dominion Bank's U.S. banking unit for $1.3 billion U.S..
Meanwhile, airplane interior maker B/E Aerospace saw its stock surge about 16% in morning trade after announcing it's being bought out by Rockwell Collins for $6.4 billion U.S.
Earnings season continued with T-Mobile, VF Corp, Restaurant Brands and Kimberly-Clark all reporting quarterly results before the bell.
Visa and Zions Bancorp are among the firms scheduled to post results after the bell after the close. This week will be the busiest one of the season, with more than 160 S&P companies and 13 Dow components scheduled to report.
The economic data calendar was light on Monday, with only the IHS Markit manufacturing index's flash read for October released. The number rose to 53.2 from a three-month low of 51.5, which was hit in September.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury slumped, raising yields 1.76% from Friday’s 1.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 60 cents at $50.25 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices lost $3.40 to $1,264.10 U.S. an ounce.
