Markets in Toronto rose on Monday as mining shares tracked metal prices higher, while shares of energy companies gained as oil prices edged up.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved off their highs of the morning, but was still positive 4.38 points to greet noon at 15,179.19
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.24 cents to 78.84 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included First Quantum Minerals, which rose 4.9% to $13.19, and Lundin Mining, which advanced 3.2% to $8.15.
Both miners produce copper, nickel and zinc. Copper prices hit their highest since early March on the back of better-than-expected economic data from top consumer China and a weaker U.S. dollar, while nickel and zinc also gained.
Dominion Diamond Corp rose 5% to $17.76, after the world's third-largest diamond producer by market value agreed to a sweetened takeover offer of $14.25 per share in cash from The Washington Companies, valuing it at $1.2 billion.
The energy group progressed, with Canadian Natural Resources Ltd up 0.8% to $37.36 and Cenovus Energy rising 1.4% to $9.39.
Industrials fell as Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd slipped 0.8% to $209.20 and SNC-Lavalin fell 1.5% to $57.20.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc rose 1.7% to $22.19 after saying it would sell its Obagi Medical Products business for $190 million in cash.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said foreign investment in Canadian securities amounted to $29.5 billion in May, mainly purchases of government debt instruments.
At the same time, Canadian investors increased their holdings of foreign securities by $4.4 billion, led by investments in U.S. debt instruments.
Elsewhere, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported Monday morning that the resale of Canadian homes fell 6.7% in June from May, the biggest monthly drop since 2010 and the third straight monthly decline as sales in Toronto plunged
The industry group said actual sales, not seasonally adjusted, slumped 11.4% from June 2016, while home prices surged 15.8% from a year earlier, according to the group's home price index.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.28 points to 760.80
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, as materials and gold each gained 1.6%, and health-care advanced 1.3%.
The half-dozen laggards were led by information technology, down 1.1% industrials, down 0.6%, and consumer staples, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities south of the border rose slightly on Monday as investors geared up for a slew of earnings reports later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrials eked up 2.26 points to 21,640, to notch a new record, with Apple contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 gained 0.89 points to 2,460.16, also at record levels it had not seen since June 19, with consumer discretionary leading advancers and financials lagging.
The NASDAQ added 3.74 points to 6,316.21
Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Microsoft, Qualcomm and eBay are just a few of the companies scheduled to release quarterly results. Asset manager BlackRock posted quarterly results earlier on Monday, missing analyst estimates on both revenue and profit. Netflix is set to report Monday after the close.
Overall earnings are expected to grow by 6.2% this quarter, according to experts. Earnings in the first quarter rose by approximately 15%
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground Monday, lowering yields to 2.32% from Friday’s 2.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices fell 32 cents to $46.22 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $5.80 to $1,233.30 U.S. an ounce.
