Stocks in Canada’s largest market barely cleared breakeven Monday, as gains health-care and tech issues more than compensated for losses by gold stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tacked on but 7.44 points to close a lackluster session Monday at 16,103.51
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.02 cents to 77.77 cents U.S.
Prometic Life Sciences was up eight cents, or 6.3%, at $1.35 after a British health regulator gave one of its drugs a promising designation.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals climbed $1.16, or 4.6%, to $26.52.
Shopify Inc added $4.34, or 3.4%, to $133.84 after the commerce software company was added to several S&P/TSX sub-indices.
BlackBerry jumped 41 cents, or 3.1%, to $13.59.
In the oil patch, Suncor Energy popped 54 cents, or 1.2%, to $44.79, while Crescent Point Energy leaped 18 cents, or 2%, to $9.26.
Gold miners faded even as the price of bullion steadied, with Kirkland Lake Gold down 84 cents, or 4.7% at $17.08, while Barrick Gold subsided two cents to $17.55.
In consumer discretionary stocks, Magna International docked 20 cents to $72.04, and Gildan Activewear doffed 17 cents to $41.15.
Industrials fell as Canadian National Railway slipped 34 cents to $102.74. Canadian Pacific Railway settled $2.79, or 1.2%, to $228.94.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.41 points to 791.55
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative on the day, with gold dulling in price 0.9%, while consumer discretionary sinking 0.5%, and industrial stocks sliding 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, better by 2.6%, while information technology picked up 0.7%, and energy, up 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed higher, reversing earlier weakness following a terror incident near New York City's Times Square.
The Dow Jones industrials notched a record close, gaining 56.87 points to 24,386.03.
The S&P 500 picked up 8.49 points to 2,659.99, also an all-time closing high. Energy stocks, rising 0.7%, and tech stocks, up 0.8%, were among the best-performing sectors in the S&P 500.
The NASDAQ gained 35 points to 6,875.08
In corporate news, shares of Cboe Global Markets traded higher following the launch of bitcoin futures on the Cboe Futures Exchange. Cboe shares closed 0.9% higher. Bitcoin futures — which began trading at the Cboe on Sunday — surged 20% to $18,670 per bitcoin.
Overstock.com shares, meanwhile, surged 22% after Morgan Stanley revealed a stake in the company. Overstock shares have been on fire recently after the company said it plans to launch a licensed digital coin trading platform.
The major indexes shook off news of the explosion that took place in Times Square earlier on Monday. A low tech device exploded during rush hour Monday morning at New York's Port Authority, injuring four people, including the man carrying the device.
Wall Street also looked ahead to the upcoming monetary policy meeting by the Federal Open Market Committee, to see if the central bank raises interest rates for the final time this year.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sagged, raising yields to 2.39% from Friday’s 2.38%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 64 cents a barrel to $58.00 U.S.
Gold prices slid four dollars to $1,244.40 U.S. an ounce.
