Markets in Canada’s largest centre continued their ascent as the clock approached noon ET Monday, rose on Monday, reversing early losses as key sectors including materials and energy rebounded.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index prospered 41.18 points pause for noon hour at 15,068.34
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 77.59 cents U.S.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan was the most influential gainer, rising 3.9% to $21.86, while Agrium, which is set to merge with Potash later this year, advanced 3.9% to $121.60.
Barrick Gold rose 1.7% to $20.14. Gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,209.60 U.S. an ounce.
Among financials, Home Capital Group fell 5.2% to $14.35. The stock has retreated in recent sessions following news that Canada plans to ban some bundled residential mortgages to clamp down on risky lending.
Industrials also advanced, helped by a 0.6% rise to $106.56 in Canadian National Railway
Exchange Income, which was hit last week by news that short seller Marc Cohodes was targeting the company, recovered its losses and jumped 4.3% to $31.95, which also boosted the industrials sector.
Consumer discretionary shares climbed, with cable company Cogeco Communications Inc rising 2.1% to $81.5 following news its subsidiary Atlantic Broadband would buy MetroCast's assets for about $1.4 billion, expanding its presence in the United States.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.1 points to 752.12.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups remained higher by noon, as materials darted 1.9%, gold surged 1.5%, and energy was stronger 0.6%
The lone two holdouts were consumer staples and utilities, each down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded mostly higher on Monday as Wall Street got ready for the start of the latest earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrials made their way higher 15.07 points to greet noon Monday at 21,429.41, with Visa contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 gained 4.06 points to 2,429.24, with technology leading advancers, led by Nvidia and FLIR Systems. Financials, meanwhile, lagged.
The NASDAQ acquired 17.06 points to 6,170.50, as technology stocks rose. Amazon's stock climbed in early trade as the company got set for its so-called Prime Day. Prime Day features big deals for Amazon's Prime customers.
But shares of Tesla fell 0.2%, helping to cap gains on the tech-heavy index. The stock entered a bear market last week, trading more than 20% below its all-time high.
Tech stocks have been the best performers of 2017 thus far, with the sector rising 17%. But the sector has struggled over the past month, slipping 1.3%.
Earnings season will kick off on Friday when JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all release their quarterly results. Investors also kept an eye out for earnings from large-cap technology companies.
There are no major economic data due Monday. However, key inflation data — along with monthly retail sales — are due out at the end of the week. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is also scheduled to testify in front of Congress Wednesday and Thursday.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note nicked higher, lowering yields to 2.37% from Friday’s 2.39%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 29 cents to $44.52 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices recovered $3.40 to $1,213.10 U.S. an ounce.
